Million Dollar Bridge
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For the bridge in Portland, Maine, see Million Dollar Bridge (Maine).
The Million Dollar Bridge, more formally known as the Miles Glacier Bridge, was built in the early 1900s fifty miles from Cordova in what is now the U.S. state of Alaska. It is a cantilever bridge which completed a 315 km (196 mile) railroad line for the Copper River and Northwestern Railway, built by J. P. Morgan and the Guggenheim family to haul copper from the old mining town of Kennicott, now located within the Wrangell - St Elias National Park and Preserve, to the port of Cordova, Alaska. It earned its nickname because of its $1.4 million cost, well recouped by the about $200 million worth of copper ore which was shipped as a result of its construction.
Work began in the 1950s to convert the old railbed, shut down in 1938, to a road. This work was halted when the bridge, and much of the highway under construction, was damaged by the Good Friday Earthquake.
Temporary repairs, consisting of a rudimentary system of cables, I-beams, and planks, kept the bridge passable. Only about 10 miles of four wheel drive road had been constructed at the other side of the bridge before the earthquake. For most motorists, the bridge is the end of the road. Unlike the Gravina Island Bridge and the Knik Arm Bridge, this is a true "bridge to nowhere."
The bridge was permanently repaired starting in 2004, and the repaired bridge dedicated in August 2005. The controversial decision was made to repair it after a flood in September 1995 made an eventual washout inevitable. State engineers determined that it was less expensive to repair the bridge than it would be to remove it, or (in a worst case scenario) clean up if the bridge completely collapsed into the river. Such a cleanup would have been required due to the Copper River salmon runs.
Some people hope that the repaired bridge will lead to resumption of construction of the Copper River Highway linking Cordova with the Alaska road system at Chitina. Others fear this to be the case. The population of Cordova is evenly divided on the subject. As of early 2006, no decision has been made.
[edit] Timeline
- 1907–1911 The railroad and bridges were built.
- 1938 Its use as a railroad bridge ends.
- 1958 Bridge converted for motor vehicle traffic.
- 1964 One span of the nearly-1600' bridge slipped off its foundation after the Good Friday Earthquake.
- 1995 Flooding in September causes further damage, and raises the possibility of a washout that would deposit debris on Miles Glacier and harm the Copper River salmon run.
- 2000 The bridge is placed [1] on the National Register of Historic Places.
- 2004 Repairs costing $16 million in federal and $3 million in state tax dollars begin. "I don't get it," said former Cordova Mayor Kelly Weaverling. "I hear we're going to have cut old folks homes and start taxing people in this state, and we're blowing millions of dollars on a bridge that's going to go nowhere. I think it's an incredible waste of money." [2]
- 2005 Repairs completed, and bridge re-dedicated in August.
