The Brotherhood Bridge is a

road bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

Juneau Juneau ( ; ), officially the City and Borough of Juneau, is the capital of the U.S. state of Alaska, located along the Gastineau Channel and the Alaskan panhandle. Juneau was named the capital of Alaska in 1906, when the government of wha ...

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

.USGS GNIS Feature Detail Report
/ref> The bridge carries the Glacier Highway over the

Mendenhall River The Mendenhall River ( Lingít: ''Woosh Ilʼóox̱ʼu Héen'') is an Alaskan river north of Juneau in the Mendenhall Valley. The river begins at the Mendenhall Lake, at the base of the Mendenhall Glacier. Rafting on the river The Mendenhall is ...

, acting as a demarcation point of sorts between the urban and rural portions of mainland Juneau. The bridge was named in honor of the

Alaska Native Brotherhood The Alaska Native Brotherhood (ANB) and its counterpart, the Alaska Native Sisterhood (ANS), are two nonprofit organizations founded to address racism against Alaska Native peoples in Alaska. ANB was formed in 1912 and ANS founded three years lat ...

(ANB). It was designed by civil engineer Roy Peratrovich, Jr., the son of Roy and

Elizabeth Peratrovich Elizabeth Peratrovich (; ; July 4, 1911December 1, 1958) was an American civil rights activist, Grand President of the Alaska Native Sisterhood, and a Tlingit who worked for equality on behalf of Alaska Natives. In the 1940s, her advocacy wa ...

, who were leaders in the ANB and counterpart Alaska Native Sisterhood. Bronze plaques on the bridge refer to the Raven and Eagle clans of the

Tlingit The Tlingit or Lingít ( ) are Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. , they constitute two of the 231 federally recognized List of Alaska Native tribal entities, Tribes of Alaska. Most Tlingit are Alaska Natives; ...

people. Previous bridges across the Mendenhall River, at or near the same spot, were constructed in 1903, 1919 and 1931. It was entered into the

United States Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), founded as the Geological Survey, is an agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior whose work spans the disciplines of biology, geography, geology, and hydrology. The agency was founded on Mar ...

Geographic Names Information System The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is a database of name and location information about more than two million physical and cultural features, encompassing the United States and its territories; the Compact of Free Association, asso ...

on March 31, 1981. The Brotherhood Bridge was slated for replacement, with widening and other improvements, in 2012. Demolition of the old bridge and construction of a new 99.5-foot-wide bridge happened concurrently in stages, beginning April 25, 2014, and completing October 31, 2015. The name Brotherhood Bridge was appropriated by a band consisting of Juneau-area musicians.

References

{{Reflist 1965 establishments in Alaska Alaska Native culture in Juneau Transportation buildings and structures in Juneau, Alaska Bridges completed in 1965 Road bridges in Alaska Tlingit