The Yukon River Bridge, officially known as the E. L. Patton Bridge, is a girder bridge spanning the

Yukon River The Yukon River ( Gwich'in: ''Ųųg Han'' or ''Yuk Han'', Yup'ik: ''Kuigpak'', Inupiaq: ''Kuukpak'', Deg Xinag: ''Yeqin'', Hän: ''Tth'echù'' or ''Chuu k'onn'', Southern Tutchone: Chu Nìikwän, russian: Юкон, Yukon) is a major watercourse ...

in Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area,

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. The bridge carries both the

Dalton Highway The James W. Dalton Highway, usually referred to as the Dalton Highway (and signed as Alaska Route 11), is a road in Alaska. It begins at the Elliott Highway, north of Fairbanks, and ends at Deadhorse (an unincorporated community within the ...

and the

Alaska Pipeline The Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS) is an oil transportation system spanning Alaska, including the trans-Alaska crude-oil pipeline, 11 pump stations, several hundred miles of feeder pipelines, and the Valdez Marine Terminal. TAPS is one of ...

in connecting Fairbanks with Deadhorse near the

Arctic Ocean The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceans. It spans an area of approximately and is known as the coldest of all the oceans. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) recognizes it as an ocean, a ...

and the

Prudhoe Bay Oil Field Prudhoe Bay Oil Field is a large oil field on Alaska's North Slope. It is the largest oil field in North America, covering and originally containing approximately of oil.

. It is the only bridge crossing of the Yukon in Alaska.

History

As part of construction of the

Trans-Alaska Pipeline System The Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS) is an oil transportation system spanning Alaska, including the trans-Alaska crude-oil pipeline, 11 pump stations, several hundred miles of feeder pipelines, and the Valdez Marine Terminal. TAPS is one o ...

, a permanent crossing of the

became necessary in order to complete the project. In December 1973, the state announced that it would begin accepting bids for the construction of the span. To be constructed as joint venture between the

Alyeska Pipeline Service Company The Alyeska consortium refers to the major oil companies that own and operate the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS) through the Alyeska Pipeline Service Company. History The Alaska corporation commonly known as Alyeska Pipeline Company was fou ...

and the State of Alaska, the bridge was to be supported by tiers anchored to bedrock beneath the river. At its highest point, the span would rise approximately above the river with its length changing by nearly between the summer and winter months. A consortium called Manson-Osberg-Ghemm was selected to construct the bridge with a bid of $31 million to be complete by December 1975. With construction commencing in May 1974, in the following August the project suffered its only major construction delay with the failure of a

cofferdam A cofferdam is an enclosure built within a body of water to allow the enclosed area to be pumped out. This pumping creates a dry working environment so that the work can be carried out safely. Cofferdams are commonly used for construction or re ...

. The cofferdam failed at its base where workers were working to set one of the concrete and steel bridge piers. The dams themselves had dimensions of wide by long with a depth of . Although still not yet complete at the time, the bridge celebrated its ceremonial ribbon-cutting on October 10, 1975. This allowed Alyeska to start using the span, thus eliminating the need to construct an

ice bridge An ice bridge is a frozen natural structure formed over seas, bays, rivers or lake surfaces. They facilitate migration of animals or people over a water body that was previously uncrossable by terrestrial animals, including humans. The most sig ...

that winter to transport materials across the river. The bridge would remain under the control of Alyeska until the completion of the Alaska Pipeline, then control of both the bridge and the haul road was turned over to the state. The state issued its final use permit on October 30, 1975. After both debate and litigation as to who would be allowed to use the haul road and bridge crossing, in October 1978 both were turned over to the state. In March 1982, the state officially named the bridge in honor of Edward Patton, former president of the Alyeska Pipeline Service Company during construction of the pipeline.

Description

The bridge has a length of and a width of . The driving surface of the span is of timber construction supported by a steel deck attached to a pair of steel box girders. The wooden deck has been replaced in 1981, 1992, 1999 and 2007.

References

{{reflist, 2 Bridges completed in 1975 Bridges in Unorganized Borough, Alaska Buildings and structures in Yukon–Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska Road bridges in Alaska Yukon River Steel bridges in the United States Box girder bridges in the United States