Last Original Bridge

[Chester Taje]

Heres a few photos of last remaining bridge on the original Alaska Highway. This part of road is still in use by the locals.

[ronsmith100]

Heres a few photos of last remaining bridge on the original Alaska Highway. This part of road is still in use by the locals.

Thanks!
And it reminds me of something.
On some stretches of the very wide paved Alaska hwy (ALCAN) you can see smaller trees growing out of sync with the surroundings.. shorter by ten or twenty feet.
If you stop and look it over you can see that the trees started growing when the road was abandoned maybe 30 years ago.
Its fun to try to spot these old roads but you can bet that very little of the original route and none of the original bridges remain on the Alaska Hwy.
There is a myth that the alcan is a rough tough highway.
not at all!
It is very well maintained.
Very safe.
Better than many in the US.
Read this and see if you agree

[Chester Taje]

Very good info but the posted picture is the last remaining bridge thats still in use EH

[ronsmith100]

Very good info but the posted picture is the last remaining bridge thats still in use EH

Still in ues yes.
Still part of the Modern Hwy?
I doooot it.

[Chester Taje]

Still in ues yes.
Still part of the Modern Hwy?
I doooot it.

No not in use on main highway. Locals use it. Its still in good shape. I was surprized.

[Donna C.]

No not in use on main highway. Locals use it. Its still in good shape. I was surprized.

Great photos Chester, thanks for sharing them.

[Craig Nold]

Ron,
I too was looking for evidence of the original Alaska Highway as I drove between Haines Junction and Beaver Creek. Sometimes the old road would follow the curve of a hillside and move off more than a mile only to come back to the new highway. At one such spot, the old highway converged with and was slightly above the new one and I noticed what looked like a wooden barrel complete with iron bands sticking out of the hill below the old roadbed. I wish that I could remember the exact location but it was not far from Soldier's Summit. It prompted my to investigate further and I found that the original culverts were indeed made on site of native materials. I could imagine a soldier from Tennessee plying his pre-war trade. http://www.alaskahighwayarchives.ca/en/cha...tiongallery.php

[Joy A]

Yeap, I drove out to see the Kiskatinaw bridge. Great bridge but the road to and fro was terrible.

Here's a picture of the Scamp and Jeep mid-way on the bridge.




Here's a picture of an original bridge, Canyon Creek bridge, on the old highway but is not in use today. It's virtually logs lying cross ways with planks for the tires to run on. Obviously a one way bridge. I'd love to see big rigs travel it. Even Lily was frightened standing on it.

[Chester Taje]

I agree. The road to and from was very potholed. I had to drive slowly. Its a good thing that it was only 10KMs to drive this portion of the road.

[ronsmith100]

Ron,
I too was looking for evidence of the original Alaska Highway as I drove between Haines Junction and Beaver Creek. Sometimes the old road would follow the curve of a hillside and move off more than a mile only to come back to the new highway. At one such spot, the old highway converged with and was slightly above the new one and I noticed what looked like a wooden barrel complete with iron bands sticking out of the hill below the old roadbed. I wish that I could remember the exact location but it was not far from Soldier's Summit. It prompted my to investigate further and I found that the original culverts were indeed made on site of native materials. I could imagine a soldier from Tennessee plying his pre-war trade. http://www.alaskahighwayarchives.ca/en/cha...tiongallery.php

Hi Craig

There is a kind of engineering observation in all this.
Anyone know how fast a loaded deuce would go?
In 1942?
Whatever that speed was it was the speed that determined curve radius and ramp crown (curve over top of a hill).
The original ALCAN was designed for slow vehicles so the tight curve would work inf needed and there was little reason to carve out a notch in a hill like they do today.. so the road stays straight and doesn't curve much.
Because it is an 80 or 90 km/hr road today there is almost no original road left beneath the new road.

Also another mention for those thinking of traveling it: its not just that the road has wide lanes and reasonable shoulders its also made extremely safe by the clearances back into the forest... what? I'd say maybe 20 or 30 meters are mowed down on both sides so you can see a moose coming out on the road from way back (a reason not to travel at night on the ALCAN unless you are big truck).

just my observations.

[Anne H]

Hmmm . . . . guess it's time I took another trip to Alaska - my last trip on the Alcan was over 35 years ago - so from the posts, I can see it would be a brand new trip!!

[ronsmith100]

Hmmm . . . . guess it's time I took another trip to Alaska - my last trip on the Alcan was over 35 years ago - so from the posts, I can see it would be a brand new trip!!

It is much different than when I was on it first in '66.

It is almost embarrassing the way publications still want to market it though.,
"Toyota [b]takes on the ALCAN" (2007)
"Motorhoming the ALCAN Where [b]Survival is the Issue" (2006)

It is next to impossible to let go of the "scary adventure into the wilderness" myth.
The same thing with Milepost... "its simply a must have book". I left mine under the seat for the entire trip last time. It is totally unnecessary... go online to milebymile.com... no advertising!!!
http://www.campgrounds-alaska.com/
Get "Alaska Camping" by the teri and mike church

The ALCAN is just a long long way and gas stations are spaced about 50 miles apart and are not open 24 hours.
Besides it is boring as heck because the ALCAN avoids almost all mountain ranges and lakes.

Just plan it out.

If you want to see what the ALCAN road was like 25 years ago or so take the Cassiar route instead and get the most beautiful scenery in BC: Bell II, Stewart, Iskut, Dease Lake, glaciers. Most of it is paved fair to poorly (chip seal) with some unpaved gravel (surprisingly smooth). Shorter on distance longer in driving time. Gosh dang beautiful!

Besides, BC seems to be the step child of going to Alaska and to me it is the jewel.

Another thing... there is a lot of beetle kill in BC now.. dead forests. Most of it inland.. the Cassier is wetter and not as bad.

OK.. off my soap box

[Chester Taje]

It is much different than when I was on it first in '66.

It is almost embarrassing the way publications still want to market it though.,
"Toyota [b]takes on the ALCAN" (2007)
"Motorhoming the ALCAN Where [b]Survival is the Issue" (2006)

It is next to impossible to let go of the "scary adventure into the wilderness" myth.
The same thing with Milepost... "its simply a must have book". I left mine under the seat for the entire trip last time. It is totally unnecessary... go online to milebymile.com... no advertising!!!
http://www.campgrounds-alaska.com/
Get "Alaska Camping" by the teri and mike church

The ALCAN is just a long long way and gas stations are spaced about 50 miles apart and are not open 24 hours.
Besides it is boring as heck because the ALCAN avoids almost all mountain ranges and lakes.

Just plan it out.

If you want to see what the ALCAN road was like 25 years ago or so take the Cassiar route instead and get the most beautiful scenery in BC: Bell II, Stewart, Iskut, Dease Lake, glaciers. Most of it is paved fair to poorly (chip seal) with some unpaved gravel (surprisingly smooth). Shorter on distance longer in driving time. Gosh dang beautiful!

Besides, BC seems to be the step child of going to Alaska and to me it is the jewel.

Another thing... there is a lot of beetle kill in BC now.. dead forests. Most of it inland.. the Cassier is wetter and not as bad.

OK.. off my soap box

Very good points.