Construction was 1909-10. [WisconsinHistory]
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| HAER AK,20-CORD.V,1--18 (CT) 18. Looking east from Childs Glacier to Miles Glacier - Copper River & Northwestern Railroad, Million Dollar Bridge, Spanning Copper River at Miles Glacier, Cordova, Chugach Census Area, AK Bridge Now and Then posted. Alaska's Miles Glacier "Million Dollar" Bridge. Damaged in the Good Friday Earthquake in 1964, these "temporary" repairs lasted 40 years. photo by Jet Lowe, July, 1984. (HAER) |
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| Bridges Now and Then commented on its post 2008, after permanent repairs |
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| HAER AK,20-CORD.V,1--20 (CT) 20. Collapsed span, looking east |
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| HAER AK,20-CORD.V,1--19 (CT) 19. Principal long span, looking east |
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| DangerousRoads "The bridge is 1,550 feet (470 m) long across the Copper River. This one-lane historic bridge was built in the early 1900s, from 1909-1910, as a one-track railroad bridge for the Copper River and Northwestern Railway to haul copper from the Kennicott copper mines to the port of Cordova....Nicknamed as the Million Dollar Bridge, it was closed in 1938, reopened as a highway bridge, part of the Copper River Highway in 1958 and fourth span collapsed in earthquake on 1964. In 2005, the span was repaired but the road is no longer in use." |
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| CopperRiverRailway_history The Copper River & Northwestern Railway paid $1,424,775 to build this bridge. "The bridge carries the railroad over the Copper River for its second time after leaving Cordova, crossing from the east bank back to the west bank. The alignment takes advantage of a narrow channel to allow the railway to avoid two active glaciers – Childs Glacier downstream on the west bank, and Miles Glacier upstream on the east bank." (The railway was 200 miles long. [AdamsPictureBlog]) The roadbed was converted to a road in 1958 to provide a highway connection to the outside world. When this road is "broken," Cordova can be accessed only by airplanes and ferries. |
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| Jonathan McNeely, Jan 2011 |
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| CopperRiverRailway_photo "One of the photos I’ve recently acquired is this view of a train approaching the Miles Glacier bridge from the east. It would appear to be a work train that’s returning from carrying ballast, given it consists entirely of the railroad’s Western side-dump gravel cars and a spreader on the back just ahead of the caboose. "Another thing to note is the trestle wye at the east end of the bridge. Most people don’t realize there was a wye here, completely up on trestlework. I also find it interesting that I can’t see the Miles Glacier station at the west end of the bridge, but it may be just out of the photographer’s field view." |
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| AdamsPictureBlog, 1 of several photos in the area " In this view of the bridge you can see how the section in the foreground (the formerly collapsed section) is more than two feet off of alignment with the rest of the bridge." The Miles Glacier is the largest icefield on earth outside of Greenland and Antarctica. |
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| AMRC-b64-1-135 "View of Copper River and Northwestern Railway bridge construction showing caisson for constructing bridge piers on Copper River at Miles Glacier in the Cordova, Alaska area. From verso: 'Cagsion [sic] for bridge piers.' Postcard." |
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| CityOfCordova "The 56-mile Copper River Highway begins in Cordova and ends at the Million Dollar Bridge. Locals and tourists alike use the highway to access trails, hunting and fishing opportunities, off-road recreation areas, and the US Forest Service’s popular Childs Glacier campground and recreation site. From the Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities: "The ADOT&PF has indefinitely closed the Copper River Highway at mile 36 due to safety concerns at Bridge No. 339. The closure will last until the bridge is replaced." |
The Miles Glacier is upstream, and it calves icebergs into the river, so ice breakers were installed in front of the piers to help protect them.
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| 1:13 video @ 1:01 |
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