Million Dollar Bridge
| Miles Glacier Bridge | |
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Miles Glacier Bridge in 2008. The far left span as seen in this photo shows the repairs performed in 2004.
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| Carries | road bridge |
| Crosses | Copper River |
| Locale | Cordova, Alaska |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | through Pennsylvania (Petit) truss bridge |
| Material | steel and concrete |
| Total length | 1,550 feet (470 m) |
| No. of spans | 4 |
| Piers in water | 3 |
| History | |
| Construction begin | 1909 |
| Construction end |
1910 |
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Million Dollar Bridge
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Damage done by the earthquake, with the temporary fixes performed to make the bridge usable
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| Location | Valdez-Cordova Census Area, Alaska |
| Coordinates | 60°40′24″N 144°44′36″W / 60.67333°N 144.74333°WCoordinates: 60°40′24″N 144°44′36″W / 60.67333°N 144.74333°W |
| Built | 1910 |
| Architect | Katalla Corp.; et al. |
| Architectural style | Other |
| NRHP Reference # | |
| Added to NRHP | March 31, 2000 |
1910
The Miles Glacier Bridge, also known as the Million Dollar Bridge, was built in the early 1900s, across the Copper River fifty miles from Cordova in what is now the U.S. state of Alaska. It is a multiple-span Pennsylvania truss bridge which completed a 196-mile (315 km) 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. 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.
Current access to the bridge is limited to jet boat travel up the Copper River or boat travel downriver from Chitina due to the erosion along the Copper River Highway.
The Copper River and Northwestern Railway and associated bridges were built between 1906 and 1911 by Michael James Heney. This bridge was the most significant of the group. However, its use as a railroad bridge ended in 1938 when the Copper River and Northwestern Railway shut down.
Work to convert the old rail bed into a highway bridge was completed in 1958. Bridges along the Copper River Highway from Cordova to Chitina were destroyed in the 1964 Alaska earthquake, but the Million Dollar Bridge was "merely damaged". One of the bridge spans, #4, slipped off its foundation after the earthquake.
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Wikipedia