ADD HISTORIC BRIDGE TO SYSTEM
The sixth longest highway
bridge in the state—longer than
five football fields — has only
just been added to the state’s
highway system although the
span is more than half a cen
tury old and probably the most
historic bridge in all Alaska.
The “Million Dollar Bridge.”
across which rich copper ore from
McCarthy was hauled from 1910
through 1938, has been transformed
from a railroad bridge into a high
way structure. It now boasts an 18
foot concrete roadway, concrete
safety curbs and beam-type steel
railings. The transformation cost
$305,507—about 95 per cent of which
was federal aid money—and wras
performed by Cole and Paddock of
Juneau.
Thurman D. Sherard, chief en
gineer for the Alaska Division of
Highways, said that the bridge w^as
added to the state system after
completion of the construction pro
ject got underway June 2.
Sherard said that in addition to
work on the bridge itself, the pro
| ject included repairs to two con
crete piers located in the main
channel. The piers are protected
from drifting ice by two large con
crete breakers which were con
structed about 100 feet upstream
when the bridge was built, the chief
| engineer said.
Between Glaciers
The bridge, which spans the Cop
per River at mile 49 on State Sign
Route 10, is located between a pair
, of glaciers. Childs Glacier meets
i the river a half mile downstream
from the structure, and Miles
Glacier is located some three miles
upstream.
Sherard described the bridge as
consisting of one 450-foot span, two
400-foot spans and one 300-foot span.
The superstructure consists of mas
sive steel through truss design, he
said, and rests on concrete piers
and abutments.
Originally the bridge was con
structed as a single track railroad
bridge by the Katala Company in
1910. By extensive use of low cost
hand labor, the cost of building the
entire structure was kept in the
vicinity of the “nice round sum”
from which it got its name.
Was Important Link
The massive structure served as
one of the most important links in
the 196 miles of railroad from Mc
Carthy to the docks in Cordova.
The railroad operated until its
abandonment in 1938.
In length the newest addition to
the state system ranks behind the
bridge over the Copper River at
! mils 27 (2,609 feet), the bridge at
Nizina in the McCarthy area (2,200>,
the bridge over Knik River near
Palmer (1,996), the Robertson bridge
on the Alaska Highway ,1,976), and
the Big Gerstle bridge on the Alas
ka Highway (1,819).
The 1,570-foot overall length of
the Million Dollar bridge ranks it
just behind the Big Gerstle span
and just ahead of the 1,552-foot Gas
tineau Channel bridge between
Juneau and Douglas.
Jessen’s Weekly, the paper you
keep all week to read.
DAWSON PLANS TENT CITY
DAWSON CITY. Y.T.—Visitors to
the first annual Dawson City Gold
Rush Festival, to be held next sum
mer, will sleep under canvas. A
tent city, comprising 100 two and
four bed units, is to be constructed
in Dawson City, providing accom
modation for some 350 festival vis
itors.
For weeks, festival authorities
grappled with the problem of pro
viding first class accommodations
for the “stampede” of tourists ex
pected in Dawson City when the
festival opens July 1.
The once lusty mining town that
at the turn of the century boasted
a population of over 35,000 has
dwindled now to some 700 inhabi
tants. Only two of the original ho
tels are still in Operation, and
although several motels are now
under construction, it was not un
til agreements were signed for the
erection of a tent city that the
problem of housing an estimated 700
visitors daily was solved.
Thirty Investors
Backing the project which will
cost some $75,000, are 36 investors
from the Yukon Territory who have
formed a group called “Klondike
Tent Cities Ltd.” Floorboard and
framing construction is already un
derway, and the tent city is ex
pected to be ready for operation by
June 15.
Tom Patterson, founder of the
Stratford Shakespearean Festival
and consultant to the Dawson City
Festival, said that a suitable site
for the tent city has been located
“just a nugget’s throw” from the
Yukon River.
While the tents will be a far cry
from the canvas affairs that shel
tered the thousands of miners who
poured into Dawson City during the
gold rush, festival visitors will be
given a scroll, making them honor
ary “sourdoughs” for having slept
under canvas on the banks of the
Yukon.
The Seattle World’s Fair, April
21-Oct. 21, 1962, will have the great
est gayway fun zone ever created
for a world’s fair. The $2 million
amusement program will feature 19
amusement rides, most of them new
to American fairgoers.
rMtflSfliM'iwi- n iiiiwif 111 mil iiiiiiBiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiimiii—ii —......
I when
Jimmy grows
as big as
his shadow
... the free world he Kves in will be
using almost a million gallons of
petroleum every minute.
That’s about 60% more than it uses
today—by 1971.
Where will it all come from?
From hundreds of places on earth
you might never expect oil to exist
Right now, for example, Standard’s
exploration teams are probing the
ocean floor many miles out to sea
... trekking across Arabian deserts,
marked “inaccessible” on maps.
Others are climbing over glaciers in
I Alaska, pushing through the snow
into the frozen interior of Canada,
slogging through the jungles of Latin
America.
In the last ten years, geologists from
Standard and its affiliates explored
in 47 countries on six continents.
Is the search paying off?
Yes. In the United States alone, we
found two new barrels of oil for every
barrel we took out of the ground.
The search will continue to help
make certain that Jimmy and his
generation will have the oil they
need for an ever-expanding number
of homes, cars, mechanized farms and
industries... and provide chemicals
from petroleum that will help make
possible more exciting new products.
planning ahead to serve you better
STANDARD OIL COMPANY
OF CALIFORNIA