(including melted snow was re
npectively 62, 58, 58 and 61 inches;
with an average of 17 rainy days
monthly. These conditions of rain
fall do not apply to the interior be
yond the town of Chitina at mile
131. The winds across the flats and
through the canons of the lower riv
er are also excessive at times dur
ing the winter and spring; frequent
ly driving in from sea for several
days at a time at the rate of 75 miles
per hour, and from time to time
exceeding this up to 90 and perhaps
100 miles per hour. The troubles
.suffered from these winds will be
shown somewhat in detail in that
portion of the article dealing with
the construction of the steel bridges.
The bridges on the Copper river
flats were driven in the latter part
of the spring of 1908 while snow
was still on the ground. Skid pile
drivers were used, which were haul
ed from stream to stream; each
structure having a temporary runoff.
As rapidly as possible the track was
laid on the bare ground between the
trestles and in this way a skeleton
line was established to the first main
crossing. Fortunately, excellent grav
el banks ( of glacial formation) were
found on miles 6, 22, and 26, and
the product of two large steam shov
els was hauled to the ground by
light engines, and the road bed grad
uelly brought to grade.
No other plan was feasible as the
material on which the track was laid
was unsuited for side barrow. Dur
ing all of the season of 1908 the
cars used were 12 yard side dumps
and the final result of this work is
a wide and compact road bed of ex
cellent riding qualities. There has I
not been any appreciable deteriora
tion from the freezing conditions of
winter, or erosion from spring floods.
Approximately 570.000 cubic yards j
of gravel was used in this track i
work.
The river was crossed at the low
er channels by a 4000 foot tempo
rary pile trestle and a somewhat sim
ilar method of grade work was adop
ted to the Miles Glacier crossing at
the end of mile 49, which was reach
ed in the late fall. The gravel for
this portion of the line, between the
lower channels and miles glacier,
was hauled from a pit on mile 42
which has a bank 30 feet high and
3,500 feet long. Temporary yards
were established on the east bank
of the river at Miles glacier, and un
der extraordinary difficulties of
transfer across Miles glacier lake the
line was pushed to Mile 54, by Nov
ember 1908.
Active work was resumed m the
6pring of 1909. A ferry boat, the
Gulkana, was built for service on
Miles glacier lake with suitable float
ing slips so that loaded cars could
be transferred on scows, and a large
construction camp was organized on
mile 55. Three light draft river
steamers were built, the Chitina.
JCizina and Tonsina, and as the rail
road followed the river bank it was ■
thus possible to organize a series j
of camps along the line and keep
them supplied with men and pro
visions. Similar methods were adop
ted in the construction of the upper j
river portion of the line as had beer,
followed on the lower river in 1908. !
so that the bridge men were kept I
busy and the line was raised and 1
ballasted from gravel pits at miles
52, 55 and 67. About 460,000 yards,
of gravel were handled by the shov- j
els this season, of which a portion j
was taken from the pit on mile 42 j
t*b complete the work on miles 1
to 49. The lesser quantity used on
the upper river portion of the line
was on account of being able to
do much side barrow work; the
ground being generally dry and com- j
posed of glacial gravels. Some snow ;
sheds were erected in Abercrombie
canon and the front reached Teikel ;
river mile 101 in November.
Much roes work was Cone by the
sub-contractors during the winter of
1909-1910 and nothing unusual mar
ked the progress of the work in
1910 except the heavy character of
the excavation. The river boats con
tinued to supply the needs of 3000
men scattered along the line, and to
furnish bridge timber ahead of the
track.
The steam shovels on the upper
river portions of the Copper fur
nished some 336,000 yards of gravel,
the product of the pit at mile 101
being used to ballast the line to mile
131, Chitina, which was reached ir,
September, at which time the entire |
main line was turned over to the
operating department. The steel
bridge at Miles Glacier had been I
completed in June, and the ferry!
went out of commission. The ferry
steamer Gulkana was dismantled,
as were also the Tonsina and Nizina
of the river fleet; the Chitina being
beached on the west bank of the
river near Chitina and held for
future use in case of need.
The Chitina branch which leaves
the main line at mile 132, runs
easterly up the valley of the Chitina
river and was projected to serve the
extensive copper and gold belt which j
runs along the base of the Wran- '
gell range to the boundary line of
Yukon Territory, a distance of some
70 miles, and beyond into the White
river country, which drains into the
Yukon river. The end of the line
is 195.25 miles from Cordova, at
which point it connects with the
| tramway of the Kennecott copper
mines, commonly known as the Bo
nanza. . The track is of lighter con
struction than the main line, 60
pound rails and 2640 ties per mile.
The Chitina valley forms one arm
of the great Copper river basin with
an area of something like 20,000
i square miles, being about 250 miles
from southeast to northeast, with
a width varying from 75 to 150
! miles. On the north the Delta and
the Menstata passes lead to the Tan
ana valley with easy gradients, while
i the head of White river is reach
ed by the Skolai pass at the head of
■ the Chitina on the east. It is a re
gion of varied sedimentary strata
! with instrusive and eruptive rocks,
highly mineralized, and known to
contain large workable bodies of
the commercial metals: the exploita
tion of which is in rapid progress.
Cntil the construction of the rail
road, these were absolutely value
less as freight from the coast by
way of Valdez ranged from fifty
cents to a dollar per pound and
could only be hauled in during win
ter months on the snow. The clim
atic conditions of this region are
the same as those of the central por
tion of Alaska territory, being re
moved from the modifying influence
of the ocean. The total precipita
tion, including melted snow, ranges
from 15 to 24 inches only, but the
temperature varies from 50 degrees
Fahrenheit below zero to SO degrees
above in the shade, as compared with
a range at Cordova from zero to 75
degrees above. The dominating
mass of Mt. Wrangell, with its as
sociated peaks reaching altitudes of
10,000 to 14,000 feet, is perpetually
the sun during the summer. This
method insures the freezing of the
original surface muck and prevents
it again thawing out, producing a
. stable roadbed. The gravel for this
purpose was taken from pits at
miles 146, 158 and 183 to the
amount of approximately 230,000
cubic yards. At mile 146 the shovel
was kept at work up to December
1910 and work began at pit 158
in April 1911; the entire ballasting
work being completed July 31. 1911.
three years and nine months from
the date on which the Katalla com
pany undertook the construction of
the line from Cordova.
On leaving the main line the
Chitina branch crosses the Copper
river for the third time on a tem
porary trestle, 2790 feet long (to
be replaced by a steel bridge at some
future time), the track then fol
lowing the south bank of the Kot
sina river until on mile 136 it cros
ses the divide into the basin of the
! Chitina.
Strelna creek at mile 146 was
: reached in October 1910, and at the
j end of that month a temporary halt
I was called at the end of mile 14S
| on the bank of the Kuskulana gorge:
i pending the erection of the last steel
| bridge, described elsewhere. Ex
| tensive surveys did not show any
| way of avoiding this narrow clear
i cleft, across which the cantilever |
bridge was erected during the late
! winter and completed Christmas day,
with the track 240 feet above the
bottom of the gorge.
While this bridge work was in
progress the foundations of al lthe
other bridges were being prepared,
and many of the timbers framed,
which was made feasible by the
building of a good wagon road from
the river to the mines at a cost of
$1,000 per mile, and the balance of
the work was merely a succession
of track laying detail on the frozen
grade, and bridge building. The
in but these were soon found to be
unsuited to the work on account of
not being acclimated to the north
| ern latitudes.
The climate is very healthy and
as a result the work was marked by
an almost entire absence of illness
among the men, although, of course,
accidents occurred from time to time
to iniividuals as is ordinarily ex
pected in heavy and long continued
construction work. An effective hos
pital service was established at
Cordova and Miles glacier. with
emergency hospitals carried along
the line as the construction camps
moved forward.
The work was conducted under
the contract system with M. J. Heney
& Co., as the contractors, they in
turn sub-letting considerable of the
rock work to individuals. The work
ing equipment was all American
built, which includes standard pas
senger equipment, several consoli
dation locomotives equipped with
electric headlights, and freight equip
ment ranging up to 100,000 pounds
capacity.
At the new town of Chitina the
railway connects with the Ed S. Orr
Stage Line over which express stages
are operated into Fairbanks, about
300 miles north, via the new gov
ernment trail; which connects with
the Valdez-Fairbanks trail it Cop
Iter Center. Traffic and mails from
the I'nited States proper and foreign
points via the railway and this trail
are delivered in Fairbanks within
twelve days after leaving Seattle.
The distance is about 1700 miles by
water and land and this new route j
effects a great saving of time as j
compared with the former ail trail
route from Valdez to Fairbanks via
Thompson pass.
General Description of the Construc
tion of the Flag Point Bridge
This bridge is built across chan- j
nels in the delta of the Copper river, j
(27 miles from Cordova 1, and con-j
Tne original location of the Cop.
per River Railroad, afterwards pur
chased by the Copper River — North
western Railway, was along the left
bank of the Copper river, from about
one mile up stream from the Flag
point bridge, as later located, for a
distance of eighteen miles, crossing
the Copper River one-quarter mile
1 below Childs glacier, to avoid which
necessitated a crossing there. This
location was along the foot of a
hign precipitous mountain side ex
tending to the waters edge from the
time the river was first reached for
a distance of approximately 2 tg
miles, and for this distance, was
i subject to great avalanches, as the
i snow reached a depth of 12 feet on
; the level in this section. This would
, necessitate snow sheds for practi
cally the entire distance along the
foot of the mountain, in addition to
being extremely heavy work as
would be the work for the remain
ing distance to the proposed cros
sing below Childs Glacier.
After examining the proposed
bridge site near Childs glacier, we
decided, that the structure would
have to consist of 4-400 foot spans,
and 1-300 foot span, with a possible
addition of 3-300 foot spans. On
account of the flow of icebergs from
Child's glacier, the piers had to be
kept out of the channels and located
on bars. The maximum fluxuation
between high and low water was
found to be 24 feet. The greatest
flow of icebergs occurring during
high water in July and August. Ob
servations taken during 1907. show
ed icebergs passing the proposed
bridge site projecting 20 feet out
of the water. This would require
the bottom of the lower chord to
be not less than 33 feet above high
water. Observations which we took
in 190S gave a current velocity of
9.7 miles per hour with the water
six feet above low water mark. The
bed of the river and the bars are
I.. ^ ...—.. ■ ■ ... . .-. ■ - ..--I
COPPER RIVER AND MJKTH W TEK.n KAlLKOAD i ErlA1E\ AL Ai lUi^uuV a
snow clad and numerous glaciers
occupy the narrow valleys.
These glaciers, however, do not
extend into the plains much, if any
below an altitude of 3,000 feet.
The difficulties attending railroad
building in these broad interior val
leys result chiefly from the frozen
condition of the soil in depth and
the consequent presence of what is
known as “tundra.” It may at first
thought seem strange that a country
where the sub-soil is frozen to indef
inite depths should produce the lux
uriant vegetation everywhere pres
ent; but a moment of consideration
will show that it cannot possibly be
affected with drought, as it has an
unfailing reservoir of water from
which to draw the necessary mois
ture, and the hotter the weather be
comes the greater is the moisture
drawn from the surface. As the
products of decay cannot be lost by
filtering through the soil, there re
sults a rich muck which supports an
infinite variety of plant life, and
consists of the roots and dead leaves
of the yearly growth, which may vary
in thickness from a few inches to
many feet. This is the “peat” of
Ireland; the “tundra” of “Muskeg”
of the north, characteristic of all
far northern latitudes. It is almost
undrainable, holding its water in a
vise-like grip, through capillary at
traction.
If the surface of frozen muck be
removed, a new layer begins to
thaw and the condition is not im
proved; so that in the worst places
the ties were laid on the surface, and
if the muck became too soft a bed
ding of spruce boughs were made,
and the roadbed subsequently built
up with gravel from the most con
venient gravel pit, to a thickness
equal to the penetrating power of
last spike was driven at the Ken
neeott mine March 29, 1911, and the
first train load of high grade copper
ore was successfully transported over
the railway, arriving at Cordova 3:30
p. m., April 8th, for transportation
to the states.
The grade was practically finish
ed by November, 1910, but 4S miles
of rails were laid during the six
months of winter by the aid of ar
tificial illumination; including the
building of 4 8 trestles and frame
bridges; that across the Gilihina
river being 835 feet long and 65
feet high, nine others ranging from
200 to 500 feet in length.
The total length of the Chitina
branch is 64.18 miles.
The total length of 3S wood brid
ges is 11087 feet or 3.3 per cent.
The total length of Kuskulaua steel
bridge is 525 feet.
Total ascending grade going east
2239 feet.
Total descending grade going west
768 feet.
Total rise 1471 feet.
Maximum ascending grade going
east plus 179 feet on mile 196.
Maximum descending grade going
east minus 95 feet on mile 189.
During the construction of the
main line and Chitina branch the
line was divided into divisions, each
assigned to a division engineer; the j
divisions being sub-divided into res
idencies under the immediate super
vision of resident engineers. The
personnel of the engineering force
was practically entirely composed of
experienced men from the railways
of the United States. The labor was
largely composed of Scandinavians
who had previously been employed
on the railways of Canada and the
northern lines of the United States
A few southern Europeans drifted
)
sists of 9 steel spans supported by
concrete piers and abutments. The
bridge is on a tangent with level
grade and consists of three divi
sions. seperated by a pile trestle,
and a small island. The first divi
sion consists of 1-300 foot pin con
nected Baltimore truss, and 2.150
foot turu rivited spans, the second
of 4-175 foot thru pin connected
spans, while the third has 1-300, and
1-260 foot thru pin connected Bal
timore trusses. To allow traffic and
to facilitate construction of the
piers, a temporary trestle was driv
en 27 feet down stream and paral
lel to the bridge tangent.
The steel spans were fabricated
by the American Bridge Co., at
their Ambridge and Toledo plants.
The 2-300 foot spans and the 260
foot span were erected on falsework
by a traveler, and the remainder by
a bridge erection car framed for that
purpose in Seattle. Stringers are
7 in.-o in. centers and ties are 8 in.
x 10 in x 12 feet spaced 12 in cen
ter to center.
The concrete was mixed by a So.
2 Ransome mixer and a No. 2 %
Foote continuous mixer, and consists
of 1 part cement, 2 parts sand, and
4 parts broken stone, the largest 2
inches in diameter. Concrete “A”
used in bridge seats, is 1 part cem
ent, 1 part sand and 1 part broken
stone, the largest % inch in diam
eter.
Total amount of steel in bridge.
5,307,112 pounds.
Total amount of concrete in piers
and abutments, 3,860.4 cubic yards.
The cost of the bridge is high,
due to the difficulty of construction
from excessive high winds and ad
verse weather conditions, also to the
cost of transportation and the high1
price of labor.
| composed of boulders from one cub
| ic foot to ten or twelve cubic yards j
I in size. This formation would I
j necessitate pneumatic caissons for I
| foundations. The estimated cost of :
j this bridge, if the shorter structure
! were practicable, was $1,530,000.
Data extending over a number of
1 years in reference to the weather,
amount of water carried by the Cop.
per river, and rainfall on its water
shed, was not obtainable on account
of the newness of the country. The
earliest obtainable data being Aug
ust 1907. The feasibility of a pile
approach of 600 feet, could only be
ascertained by observations of the
breaking up of the river, extending
over possibly several seasons, if the
first season did not demonstrate its
impracticability. We were intruded
by Mr. E. C. Hawkins, Vice Presi
aent and Chief Engineer, to make a
thorough examination of the delta
below Childs glacier, with the view
of locating a more economical cros
sing than that originally decided up
on. Accordingly during March 1908,
we made as thorough examination of
the delta as possible, the ground at
the time being covered with nine
feet of snow, and the present loca
tion of the bridge was decided upon.
The estimated cost of the various
bridges over the delta, were as fol
lows: Flag Point bridge, $579,634;
Hot Cake Channel, $233,,888, and a
third channel in the delta over
which it might be impossible to
maintain a trestle, $1 51,469, making j
a total maximum cost of the bridge
near Childs glacier of $1,530,000.
The advantages of crossing the Cop
per river in the delta over that of
the original location are as follows:
Saving of $565,000 in the cost of
the bridge Work; the elimination of
21- miles of snow sheds and heavy
mountain work; decreasing the total
curvature 825 degrees and locating
the entire line between Flag Point
and Miles Glacier on practically lev
el ground; and in the event of the
construction of the line to the coal
fields near Katalla. seven and one
half miles of construction would be
saved. with a decrease of fifteen
miles in the coal haul, and practi
cally no increase in the haul from
the copper mines on the upper Cop
per river.
At the Flag Point bridge, the
range between high and low water
is 8 feet.
After Mr. Hawkin's approval of
I the selected crossing, a party under
> Assistant Bridge Engineer J. tt.
I Preble, was sent to the proposed
bridge site, and on April 15. 1908.
I began taking soundings of the river.
| through the ice for a distance of one
' half mile each side of the tentative
crossing and taking accurate topo.
graphy of the river banks for the
same distance. This showed our
tentative crossing to be the economi
cal one. Wash drills were then
made every two hundred feet be
tween shores which showed nothing
but sand and gravel for a depth of
ninety feet. This work was all don“
from the ice. The ice broke up and
began to move on May 28.
It was decided to build steel
steel bridges by company force.
After the track had been laid to
the Copper river. the temporary
trestle was driven parallel to the
bridge tangent and 27 feet down
stream. This trestle was completed
July 4th. 1908. It was decided to
span only the main channels with
steel, and maintain wooden trestles
on the bars. On account of the
heavy ice (from four to eight feet
thick > armored ice breakers were
designed, and the sides of the piers
were armored to high water eleva
tion as shown on the plans. Pile
foundations were decided upon for
all piers and abutments. On July
1st, 1908. C. N'. McDonald. General
Foreman, reached the work and ac
tual construction began. In driving
the piles for the temporary trestle,
it was difficult to secure a pile pen
etration exceeding 10 feet, therefore
in sinking the piles for the masonary
foundations, two inch water jets,
each supplied with a Wagner boiler
feed pump, 2% inch discharge, were
used, one on each side of the pile
and at the same time hitting the
pile short blows with a 4500 pound
hammer. The average penetration
of the piles for the masonarv foun
dations is 36 feet below cut off;
maximum 41 feet; minimum 33 feet.
After beginning construction, it was
decided to omit piers 4, 10, and II
and abutment 2; spans No. 4. Sa
and 9, as it was thought a pile trestle
could be maintained here for the
present. The excavation for all the
piers, except 1 and 12, were made
largely with 6 and S inch Morris
sand and gravel pumps. The depth
of the water at piers 1 and 12 was
great enough that the pile cut-off
was above the bed of the river. A
rock quarry was opened up. five
miles from tile bridge site, front
which a very hard quart site was ob
tained for the concrete and for rip
rapping around the piers. The san I
used for tiie concrete was that ob
tained from the excavations. The
river froze on October 17th, 190S,
rendering further construction im
possible. During 1908. we completed
pier 3 to a point above the water
level.
\\e resumed work on this bridge
April 1st, 1909, and began erecting
spans No. 10 and No. 11 on April
19th, completing these two spans.
May 1st, except riveting the floor
system. For four days of this time,
the wind blew in excess of sixty
miles per hour, an7 no work could
be done. These two spans were
erected on false work on the ice.
We also began and completed piers
3 and 7 before the ice went out of
the river.
The ice in the river broke up and
began to move on the 28 th day of
May. or on exactly the same date as
in 1908. The remainder of the piers
were completed and the steel erect
ed and all riveting completed on
August 10, 1909. Six of the nine
spans were painted with two coats
of paint, and the other three with
one coat only, on account of winter
setting in Marine Tockolith paint
was used tor the first coat and \V.
t. R. waterproof for the second coat
of paint. This combination having
stood a test of one year better than
any other of the twenty varieties
tested.
All piers were armored to protect
them front the ice with old 561 lb.
rails, placed with the ball out and
flush with the face of the concrete.
Phe rails were all anchored to the
concrete by Vz inch and 5-8 inch by
18 inch corrugated bars, passed
:hrough holes, 24 inch centers, in
he web of the rail and bent inwards
intil In contact with the flange, thus
giving nearly 2 feet anchorage in
he concrete.
As the river at piers 1 and 12 was
io deep that no excavation was re
luired, they were constructed as