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“- AVs, snowcapped mountain peaks and hazardous terrain in Alaska.
– CUs, animated map of route along highway from Canada to Alaska.
– CUs, US troops disembarking. Street scenes in Alaskan towns. Seq: Mass of bulldozers at work in snow, rain, and in marshes; building roads and bridges.
– MSs, MCUs, truck convoy crossing wooden bridges, snow-covered roads, and entering Fairbanks.
– CUs, sign, “bad ice”; various scenes, trucks skidding on icy roads.
– LS, railroad station at Skagway. Camera follows train through mountains showing hazards of ice and snow through which it must pass.
– VS, Whitehorse, Canada; stores, streets, and people of area. Short scene, US Army engineers attend ceremony at which one enlisted man is presented a medal for heroism in connection with construction of Alaskan highway. Pan, line of persons outside US Government liquor store in Whitehorse.
– VS, construction crews at work on highway during summer season. Animated map, Whitehorse, Canada to Fairbanks, Alaska showing the Haines cut-off.
– VS, US Army Engineer Corps at work on construction of cut-off. VS, along river’s edge.
– FS through wooded area to Indian vi1lage. Civilian contractors clear timber, grade and surface roads. All types of construction equipment in operation.
– AVs, temporary flight strips under construction along highway. VS, Army engineers constructing strips. Ground views, construction of hangars, new runways, and aprons to improve airfields. Planes landing. LS, US Lend Lease planes marked with red star on field.
– VS, bridges nearing completion. Peace River Bridge which is 2275′ long is officially opened in August 1943. Numerous scenes of dedication ceremonies commemorating the opening. Head-on shot, first official cargo to cross the peace River Bridge.
– VS, vehicles on highway leading from Dawson Creek, Canada to Whitehorse. VS, construction of relay stations along route to service and refuel trucks.
– AV, Canol Project area which was built as refueling system for vehicles passing over Alaskan highway. US Army engineers spreading dirt over that portion of highway which remains permanently frozen throughout the entire year.”
United States War Department Film MISC. 959
Reupload of a previously uploaded film, in one piece instead of multiple parts.
Public domain film from the National Archives, slightly cropped to remove uneven edges, with the aspect ratio corrected, and mild video noise reduction applied.
The soundtrack was also processed with volume normalization, noise reduction, and equalization (the resulting sound, though far from perfect, is far less noisy than the original).
from
The Alaska Highway (also known as the Alaskan Highway, Alaska-Canadian Highway, or ALCAN Highway) was constructed during World War II for the purpose of connecting the contiguous U.S. to Alaska through Canada. It begins at the junction with several Canadian highways in Dawson Creek, British Columbia and runs to Delta Junction, Alaska, via Whitehorse, Yukon. Completed in 1942, it was 2,237 km or 1,390 mi long, but is becoming shorter due to rerouting. The historic end of the highway is near milepost 1422, where it meets the Richardson Highway in Delta Junction, Alaska, about 160 km (99 mi) southeast of Fairbanks. Mileposts on the Richardson Highway are numbered from Valdez, Alaska. The Alaska Highway is popularly (but unofficially) considered part of the Pan-American Highway, which extends south to Argentina…
Proposals for a highway to Alaska originated in the 1920s… The attack on Pearl Harbor… changed the priorities for both nations. On February 6, 1942 the construction of the Alaska Highway was approved by the United States Army… Canada agreed to allow construction as long as the United States bore the full cost…
The official start of construction took place on March 8, 1942 after hundreds of pieces of construction equipment were moved on priority trains by the Northern Alberta Railways to the northeastern part of British Columbia near Mile 0 at Dawson Creek. Construction accelerated… after reports of the Japanese invasion of Kiska Island and Attu Island in the Aleutians. On September 24, 1942 crews from both directions met at Mile 588 at what became named Contact Creek, at the British Columbia-Yukon border at the 60th Parallel; the entire route was completed October 28, 1942 with the northern linkup at Mile 1202, Beaver Creek, and the highway was dedicated on November 20, 1942 at Soldiers Summit.
The needs of war dictated the final route, intended to link the airfields of the Northwest Staging Route that conveyed lend-lease aircraft from the United States to the Soviet Union…
