(From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
Route Description
Alaska Highway 10 is officially 81 miles
(130 km) long and runs from its intersection with Alaska Highway 4 near Copper
Center to Cordova via the town of Chitina. In reality however, it consists of
two unconnected highways: the Edgerton and Copper River highways.
The first part of Alaska Highway 10, the Edgerton Highway, extends the first
33 miles (55 km) and is named for U.S. Army Major Glenn Edgerton, a member of
the Alaska Territorial Road Commission. It follows an old pack trail along the
Copper River, and is paved. The popular dip-net salmon fishery in Chitina causes
the highway to be fairly heavily used in summer.
The second, disconnected part of Alaska Highway 10, the Copper River Highway,
extends 48 miles (77 km) from Cordova along the old rail bed of the Copper River
and Northwestern Railway. The first 12 miles (20 km) of the highway is paved;
the rest is gravel. A primitive four-wheel-drive road continues for 10 miles (16
km) beyond the end of the highway to the Allen River.
Construction began in 1945, and was originally intended to link Cordova with
the state highway system at Chitina. The Million Dollar Bridge, which had
carried trains until the CR&NW shut down, was converted for highway use. The
road extended only slightly beyond the bridge when the Good Friday Earthquake of
1964 halted construction and severely damaged the Million Dollar Bridge,
collapsing the north span. Temporary repairs were made, and the bridge continued
to be used, despite being unsafe. Permanent repairs were not completed until
2005.
