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A Formerly Restricted Military Film! Beautiful documentary of the construction of the Alaska Highway through the Pacific Northwest of North America and the reasons behind the roadwork.

ALASKA HIGHWAY (1949)
http://archive.org/details/gov.archives.arc.23437
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/publicdomain/
This is a work of the United States Federal Government prepared by federal government
officers and/or employees as part of their official duties and is not copyrightable
and is in the public domain and free to use for any purpose including commercial use.

National Archives and Records Administration
ALASKA HIGHWAY
Department of Defense. Department of the Army. Office of the Chief Signal Officer. (09/18/1947 – 02/28/1964)
ARC Identifier 23437 / Local Identifier 111-ADC-9672. Part 1, 1940 – 1949.

Summary: 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. Part 2. ARC Identifier 23438 / Local Identifier 111-ADC-9673. Summary: 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.
Producer: National Archives and Records Administration
Creative Commons license: Public Domain – Bright Enlightenment on YouTube

Tags: AL, Alaska, Alaskan Highway, Bright Enlightenment, U.S. Military, YouTube

This entry was posted on Monday, July 9th, 2012 at 2:28 pm and is filed under Aging Infrastructure, Highway, Jobs, Local, Public Transportation, Roads, Show Us Your Infra, Transit . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.