Anchorage, Alaska — Thousands of black soldiers did the hard work of transforming harsh wilderness under extreme climate fluctuations during World War II to help build the first road connecting Alaska to the Lower 48.
The work of segregated black soldiers is credited with bringing about changes in military discrimination policies. The State of Alaska honored them by naming a bridge near the end of the famous Alaska Highway.
Now, eight decades later, the old bridge needs to be replaced. Instead of demolishing it, the State of Alaska intends to keep two of the bridge’s nine pillars in place as a reconstructed memorial. Others will be given away.
The state of Alaska will replace the 1,885-foot (575-meter) bridge that spans the Gerstle River near Delta Junction, the endpoint of the Alaska Highway about 100 miles (161 kilometers) south of Fairbanks.
Seven of the bridge’s piers are being offered free of charge to states, local governments or private entities that will maintain them for their historic features and public use.
The remaining two sections of the old bridge, which was renamed the Veterans Memorial Bridge in 1993, will be 4,000 or so black soldiers Who built the first wooden bridge over the river while completing the Alaska Highway.
These two sections, the first trestles on either end, will retain the name of the Memorial Bridge. The new Gerstle River Bridge will unofficially bear the memorial name unless the Legislature makes it official as well. The old bridge will remain in place until the new bridge opens in 2031.
Mary Leith, former mayor of Delta Junction and member of the Historical Society, said she’s happy some history was saved, but she wants the state to have proper signage and a pull-off area on the highway near the historic bridge to allow people to walk on it.
“I hope that if they’re going to save it, they’ll save it properly,” she said.
The Veterans Memorial Bridge sign will remain and both sections will be visible from the new bridge, but will be closed to prevent people from climbing or vandalizing them, said Angelica Stubbs, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Transportation. There is no plan for withdrawal.
The new bridge will be parallel to the current bridge to the east, leaving about 50 feet between it and the old bridge site, Stapp said.
The Alaska-Canada Supply Route construction project employed 11,000 US Army Corps of Engineers soldiers divided by race, working against a background of segregation and discrimination. Besides turning rugged terrain, soldiers had to contend with mosquitoes, swampy terrain, permafrost and temperatures ranging from 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 degrees Celsius) to 70 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 56 degrees Celsius).
“Although conditions were harsh for everyone, they were almost unbearable for the black soldiers. Hailing from the deep South, most of these soldiers had never encountered anything approaching the harsh conditions of the deep north. Moreover, since black troops were not typically allowed to use heavy machinery, they made do with picks, shovels, and axes. In addition, they were banned from cities and confined to wilderness duties,” according to a National Park Service historical account.
It took black soldiers operating from the North just over eight months to meet white soldiers from the South to connect the 1,500-mile (2,400 km) gravel road, then called the Alkan Highway, from Dawson Creek, British Columbia, to Delta Junction on October 25, 1942.
“In light of their impressive performance, many of the black soldiers who worked at the Alcan River were later awarded medals and were sometimes deployed in combat. In fact, the U.S. Army eventually became the first government agency to be integrated in 1948, a move due in part to the commendable work done by the soldiers who built the Alcan,” says the National Park Service.
Alaska was still a territory, and officials had long wanted such a route to the Lower 48. However, battles over the roads and their necessity led to delays.
Japanese attacks on Pearl Harbor In Hawaii and Dutch Harbor in Alaska, along with the Japanese invasions of the Alaskan Islands Kiska and They came The urgency of the road was noted because ocean shipping lanes to the West Coast may be at risk.
Black soldiers working near Delta Junction built a temporary bridge over the Gerstle River in 1942. Contractors finished the steel structure two years later.
The Alaska Department of Transportation is accepting proposals through March 6 for all seven holders, but you don’t have to accept all of them. The state will consider all proposals, even those seeking one or two trestles for uses such as a walkway over a stream in a state park.
Winners will have to adhere to certain restrictions including not allowing vehicular traffic, paying for removal, transportation and lead abatement, and preserving the features that make the bridge historically significant.