Show ALASKA HIGHWAY AND OTHER I 1 editors editor s note A series of aru articles was sent to us recen recently rec enzly ay iy by maxine sitton from Ed edmonton Edmont monten cn alberta aalberta berta canada about the tremendous construction broj projects acts of the northwest during the past two years which include the building of the alaska all weather 1 highway eight highway flight pr strips the installation of a telephone system and other achievements y all of which were ware completed under great difficulties miss sitton has been employed in the public relations branchjr Br branch anchor of the northwest command 1 I thought these articles would aan interest to our readers altha alt h too loo long to print in their entirety we will select the high spots and offer them from time to time the first one follows the alaska all weather highway was completed last fall following generally the route of the original pioneer road which was 1 pushed through from dawson creek to fairbanks by nov 20 42 with the exception of a few permanent bridges which are to be built in 1944 the work of thousands of construction workers and hundreds of machines machine s on the high way is finished brig gen L E D Wr Wor sham sharn coin commanding manding gereral of ta ani North service Cna and WL wj u head henday VL in edmonton alberta canada said shtil in a lit 3 ii fi 1 C than and a half e has been acco pushed one of the greatest construe con ti lioi c projects ever taken by the corps of the pioneer road was completed in the fall of 1942 but much work remained to be done in the haste to complete the lifeline to the aleutians Aleut ians a great deal of what is called sight engineering was used much of the location was accomplished through aerial reconnaissance con the road read was ballasted ballested bal lasted with rock and surfaced with gravel sharp curves and steep hills were reduced and the road widened throughout te temporary mp bridges were replaced by permanent structures living quarters hospitals laundries mess halls repair shops and heated garages were built all along the 1523 mile route by december of 1942 the northwest division of the corps of engineers had been set up to carry on the task of completing the all weather highway and ether cather installations stal lations the engineers moved into edmonton alberta and established headquarters when northwest division took over winter had set in with resultant sub zero temperatures creating icing conditions and other difficulties the army also was busy rushing warm winter quarters and preparing for winter trucking work continued creeo in ii I 1 p southern sector dawson cree whitehorse but virtually ceased in the northern part whitehorse to fairbanks when the temperatures dropped in some places to 72 degrees below zero the severe winter of 1942 1912 43 handicapped the project snow strangely enough did not present 1 a 1 problem as it never exceeded a depth of from one to three feet icing conditions however proved very troublesome nature plays queer tricks in the far north country such as springs that flow all winter ion long p rivers that freeze from the bottom up bitter cold broke down machines and took the strength of men m en and long hours of darkness hampered transport men had to be efio e bially clothed to endure the fr temperatures quarters had to be b built to withstand the arctic weather and even then the walls were often covered w with ith f rost frost an I 1 continued on page 7 ALASKA HIGH HIGHWAY WAY continued from page 4 inch thick the problem of keeping engines warm warin f enough to function properly cr at all was a serious one at one time tire the solution was to leave the motors motor s running day and night fuel lines on diesel equipment froze and had to be thawed the spring thaw made a section of the highway which had not been ballasted ballested bal lasted an impassable bog through traffic to fairbanks came to a standstill IJu muskeg thawed and huge caterpillar machines attempting to make fills practically dj Tp speared eared in the mud hampered the work the summer of 1943 at one place after the spring flood damage had bad been repaired and old timers swore that the rains were over a temporary bridge had to be replaced seven times in ten days and this was in august despite all difficulties the corps of engineers the public roads administration canadian authorities and civilian contractors and workers from canada and the united states completed the alaska all ail weather highway in one short season ready for the transportation por tation of supplies for the allies the year around on november 1 1943 the construction contracts under the public roads ad n t r aaion were terminated aed and k equipment and personnel of soam contractors were moved out the job practically completed maintenance has been taken over by U S array army engineers the army operates regular passenger buses from dawson creek to fairbanks and return with stops at most of the camps these buses carry official pas passengers engers army officers truck drivers enlisted personnel carpenters in fact anyone who is officially moving from one place to another along the highway the first truck convoy to travel over the all weather road reached fairbanks the last of october 43 almost exactly a year after the original pioneer road had been completed A 2000 mile telephone line has been completed from edmonton alberta to fairbanks alaska a 9 joint U S army signal corps and corps of engineers achievement the motto of the U S corps of engineers let Us try has been fulfilled again and the alaska highway stands as a monument to the friendly relations of the united states and canada |