Geography

Bridge - Surrounding Area
The Million Dollar Bridge is located at the northern-most end of the Copper River Delta. It is near the Chugach and Wrangell Mountatins. The Childs and Miles glaciers are within a few miles of the Million Dollar Bridge. They were worried in the beginning about the glaciers running into the bridge and damaging it, as they were moving at a fast pace. Eventually the glaciers retreated and the problem no longer remained.

The site was chosen to avoid a passage through mountains. It was sheltered from storms by the two huge glaciers, and it was a flat straight route making it ideal for a railroad.

Winds travelling south down the river valley, commonly reached speeds of 85 MPH. While building the bridge they had to construct wind barriers. Strong gusts would knock down the barriers and they would have to wait for the winds to subside to rebuild the barriers and resume construction. The bridge needed to be built to withstand these extreme weather conditions. These weather conditions slowed down the building of the bridge especially when it reached temperatures of -60° Farhenheit.

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