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Old 01-31-2022, 07:15 PM   #41
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No. It was to Gravina, population 50, where the Murkowski own large areas of undeveloped land. The "justification" was to serve the airport, but the projected cost/benefit never passed the laugh test.

The Cordova project was to develop the old railroad bed to Chitna (miles of which no longer existed)along the Copper River Gorge and the collapsed "Million Dollar" (1908 dollars!) railroad bridge.

Thanks.
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Old 01-31-2022, 07:44 PM   #42
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The Cordova project was to develop the old railroad bed to Chitna (miles of which no longer existed)along the Copper River Gorge and the collapsed "Million Dollar" (1908 dollars!) railroad bridge.


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Thanks.

The Cordova Highway was pretty much another real estate scam. Much of the populace of the actually charming little burg were strongly opposed. The proponents were mostly people who owned undeveloped land or bulldozers.


The CR&NW railroad along the incredibly precipitous canyon used to wash out every winter, but the stupefying revenues (think Guggenheim and JP Morgan) from the Kennecott mining complex justified the annual ...actually, constant, rebuild.
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Old 01-31-2022, 09:02 PM   #43
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So the really funny thing!! Alaska got all the money for the Ketchikan bridge from Congress. They just didn't ear mark the funds for the bridge. Then the State Legislators took that money and spent it on other things instead of the bridge.
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Old 01-31-2022, 09:09 PM   #44
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So the really funny thing!! Alaska got all the money for the Ketchikan bridge from Congress. They just didn't ear mark the funds for the bridge. Then the State Legislators took that money and spent it on other things instead of the bridge.

Hmmm. Don't want to say it didn't happen. One can seldom go wrong counting on the turpitude of the Alaska Legislature, but having been a project manager for both the federal govt. and the State of Alaska, I've never seen it work quite like that. The process, which can certainly leak money, doesn't lend itself to outright theft. Got a source?
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Old 01-31-2022, 09:16 PM   #45
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Nome is an interesting place. We dragged big barges full of freight there from Seattle in the mid to late 80's. We would anchor up in "deep water", then crane the stuff off onto smaller barges to go ashore.
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Old 02-01-2022, 06:29 AM   #46
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We have a winner!



See my list of Alaska "projects" above--not a single one with an economic rationale. The ultimate was "The Bridge to Nowhere" which terminated on an uninhibited island belonging to the Governor's wife. (mother of the current Senior Senator.)
That's our govt in action! Don't forget that our representatives are the people we put there.
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Old 02-01-2022, 07:09 AM   #47
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The rail road grade, now a comfortable driving road, from Chitna to the San Elias Wrangell NP is a fascinating trip and provides a great look at AK history. AK's history starting with Seward's Folly is rife with what some view as government and corporate financial shenanigans and by others as sound development strategies.

A peek into the current Infrastructure Bill finds tens of billions flowing into suspect projects throughout the US. My view is that it puts money into the hands of the skilled workers who engineer, dig, build, repair and ultimately pay huge payroll and sales taxes for a wide variety of projects. These activities can be viewed similarly to the CCC days of nearly a century ago but on a grander scale.

For those who've traveled in and followed the mammoth infrastructure construction projects in China, the overall societal benefits to the populace are arguably enormous. In AK, it is likely far better that government monies go into defined infrastructure projects than given Willy Nilly to the State to disappear down the rabbit hole ASD mentioned.

And yes TP, there will likely be some gold recovered, similar to the sand and gravel plants operating around Sacramento CA.
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Old 02-01-2022, 07:22 AM   #48
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China and the CCC days, of the US, have the same advantage, no unions.
Plus, peoples dont have the same desire to take a job that will keep families separated for extended periods of time.
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Old 02-01-2022, 07:41 AM   #49
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peoples dont have the same desire to take a job that will keep families separated for extended periods of time.
The far North construction and operating projects have some very workable and financially attractive fly in fly out scenarios that have been in place for a very long time. But, skills required.
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Old 02-01-2022, 10:50 AM   #50
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Hmmm. Don't want to say it didn't happen. One can seldom go wrong counting on the turpitude of the Alaska Legislature, but having been a project manager for both the federal govt. and the State of Alaska, I've never seen it work quite like that. The process, which can certainly leak money, doesn't lend itself to outright theft. Got a source?
Not right at hand. I was a union lobbyists during this time and I remember talking to Don Young about it.
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Old 02-01-2022, 11:10 AM   #51
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That's our govt in action! Don't forget that our representatives are the people we put there.
Sigh. How trite. The Murkowski’s known and suspected corruption aside, these projects are not generally dreamed up and boosted by “government.”

All eyes look to the arctic as it warms. Extraction, tourism, nationalist competition, and the marine infrastructure necessary to support it.
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Old 02-01-2022, 12:03 PM   #52
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The rail road grade, now a comfortable driving road, from Chitna to the San Elias Wrangell NP is a fascinating trip and provides a great look at AK history.

That, of course, is the segment above Chitna, to McCarthy/Kennecott a quantum difference in grade and vulnerability compared with the now-dead Cordova link.

Been there many times, though I've never driven it.
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Old 02-01-2022, 12:27 PM   #53
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That, of course, is the segment above Chitna, to McCarthy/Kennecott a quantum difference in grade and vulnerability compared with the now-dead Cordova link.

Been there many times, though I've never driven it.
As best I recall the original rail link to the port was all privately funded over a century ago, and as you mention subject to Mother Nature's whims. The group that built it in record time did the Yukon White Pass a decade before. Those guys were marvelous constructors.

The rail link and mine itself were the start of Kennecott Copper, creating 100,000s of jobs worldwide over the past 100+ years.
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