The Kuskulana Bridge

Here, in three sections, in the early decades of the 20th century, the Kuskulana Bridge was built. The reason for this immense enterprise was this: the discovery of copper deposits in the Wrangel-St Elias Mountains. During a cold winter this bridge was built for the railroad to connect from the Copper River to the Kennicottt area, in order to bring the ore to Cordova hundreds of miles away. The bridge is 238' above the river, while a dirt road of 61 miles passes through this area, where exists a rugged country of mountains, lakes, and rivers feeding off glaciers near the mines.