Richardson Highway
The Richardson Highway is a major road in the U.S. state of Alaska, which connects to a length of 583 km Valdez on Prince William Sound with Fairbanks in the Interior. From Valdez to Delta Junction is the Richardson Highway Alaska Route 4, from there to Fairbanks Alaska Route 2 is named the Highway Wilds P. Richardson, a general of the U.S. Army, the Alaska Road Commission for the expansion of road for horse-drawn vehicles in 1910 initiated.
History
The Richardson Highway is the first Alaska Highway and walked out of the southern part of the Valdez - Eagle Trail, the prospectors took on the way to the Klondike. This trail was created in 1899 by the U.S. Army, which had investigated several possible routes to the gold fields in the Yukon and finally to create the suggestion of William R. Abercrombie, the way of Valdez along the Copper River, followed it. As a construction worker unsuccessful prospectors were made that could be earned in this way the money necessary to leave Alaska again.
After the gold rush, the U.S. Army held the Trail as the compound of bases Fort Liscum, Valdez and Fort Egbert in Eagle repaired. Discovery of gold in Fairbanks in 1902 and the construction of a telegraph line along the trail in 1903 made him the most important link in the inland areas of Alaska. In the following years he was further expanded. 1913 could cover an average of about 50 miles per day on the road a truck. 1919 already 90 % of the traffic with motorized vehicles took place. Since 1957, the Richardson Highway is paved.
Course
The Highway runs from Valdez, first along the Lowe River and through the Keystone Canyon, crossed the Thompson Pass (845 m) of the Chugach Mountains and extends to Gakona parallel to the Copper River. From Glennallen to Gakona he joins the Glenn Highway. In Gakona the Tok Cut -off branches off to the east and Paxson in the Denali Highway to the west. The Richardson Highway crossing at Isabel Pass, the highest point of the road 914 m, the Alaska Range and follows from Delta Junction, the junction with the Alaska Highway, to the Tanana River to Fairbanks. The Trans-Alaska pipeline runs parallel to the highway over long distances.