The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1922-01-25
ALASKA RAILROAD OPENS RICHES
OF GREAT NORTH AND COMPLETES
TRIUMPH OF AMERICAN ENGINEERS

nearly si,ooo,Ooo revenue to the
road.
Two small lines already In Alaska
wore bought by the government
the Alaska Northern. from Seward
TO Cooks Inlet, at cost OF si.i57,.
$50 and the Nenana Valley. operat.
ing between Fairbanks and chatani-
ka. which cost 100000.
The main line OF the Alaska rail.
road, from Seward 10 Fairbanks. Is
iG7 miles long-the completed road
With all its branches comprises 5S9
miles and cost s56.O0O,OO0. 1t was
built by the United States govern
ment army engineers.
A typical construction problem
was the spanning Of the Susitna
river, which like many others Of
the project, demanded new depart
ures In engineering. The bridge
span is of steel, 5Oi feet in length
and together with It's two APP
proaches is 1922 feet long, the larg-
est of its kind on the railroad.
Ice reaches enormous heights In
the susitna during the spring
break up. as was shown by tie
scared and broken trees along its
banks and the Scared rocks Of its
canyons: so that sustaining piers
In mldstream were out of the ques-
tion--timbers would be crushed like.
straws and concrete fare little bet
ter under the tremendous pressure
Of the ice pack. A long span was
decided upon and its building is a
story in itself.
Supplies had to be freighted by
sleds on the ice until the river broke
and the jams had crushed their
way down stream then by boats
down the current of the swirling,
treacherous river, or by wagon on
newly made roads. Pick and shovel
gangs supplemented machinery
while eight-inch pumps operated
continuously. A glacial moraine 56
miles away furnished the sand and
gravel.
Special measures were necessary
In placing concrete in the main piers
of the approaches, the porous boul-
der and gravel formation allowing
water to force itself through to the
floor of the pit and the low temper
ature of the water making it inn
possible to place concrete in it by
bucket or pipe methods. A large
sheet canvas was prepared sufficient
to cover the bottom arc, extending
UP the sides OF the enclosure where
it was formed in I" by wooden
to provide runway around
the edges. Steam pipes were placed
around the sides Of the pit enclos-
ure and then the entire space was
housed in and made warm. The
sand and gravel wereA heated by
being dumped on platforms holding
steam pipes and hot water was used
in mixing. The concrete was poured
at times when the thermometer reg
istered Sc below zero
The old route from Seattle to
Fairbanks for shipments of hay,
grain and potatoes was by steamer
to st. Michael, thence by river boats
up the Yukon and Tanana rivers, a
distance of $500 miles and at
cost Of $40 ton, or through Skag-
way and down the Yukon and Tana-
na at a cost Of $6S. Over the new
these articles can be ship
ped, according to government fig
Tres, at saving of $40 a ton, 1000 |
niles in transportation, and three
weeks in time.
AS the new line drew nearer COM
o.etion the government began hand
ing traffic to bo transported over
he intervening stretch of unfin-
shed road by various means. The
'eduction in transportation cost has
already been reflected in prices at !
Fairbanks. Beef has dropped 25c a
'ound; oats dropped from $40 to
30 ton and wood. costing $3.50 a
'ord was replaced by Ignite coal
delivered at Fairbanks for s6 ton.
because Of this enormous saving.