The bridge to nowhere is a complete waste of money and time.. and that's from an Alaskan viewpoint. The airport does not receive that much traffic to justify a construction project of that magnitude. I think that the legislation was proposed because Southeast Alaska is starting to become a cheap tourist destination for people that want to escape the rest of the world and do a little fishing. That specific piece of legislation was propsed by Young in a rural roads and runway upgrade project that Stevens tried to push through congress. I know, why in the hell do they need roads and runways upgrades, right? Well, here's a little backstory for you. Ever since World War II, the goverment used Alaska as a staging area for the invasion of Russia should anything happen during the Cold War. The US military created several small radar stations throughout the state where the only access was a small landing strip (Alaska is 1/3 the size of the continental United States and most of it is inaccessable due to the harsh winters and tundra. Tundra = nice word for swamp that's frozen for a large part of the year). People began settling around these radar stations because they could expect aircraft to land regularly carrying groceries and other life necessities. In the 70's and 80's innovations began making their way to the Alaska Bush and the radar stations were no longer needed due to the advent of AWACS and other sophisticated radar technology. These stations were closed, but the populations that had settled around them stayed. The gravel runways that were placed to accomodate DC6's and C130's were short and the newer 727's and 737's couldn't land on them without expensive gravel kits added to their landing gear. So now we have small pockets of people relying on commercial flights of food and supplies that are using extremely fuel inefficient aircraft to get there. Fuel prices sky-rocket, and these people are suddenly paying $12 for a gallon of milk. Cargo companies and tribal leaders petition the government to help them. Hence the legislation to upgrade runways. Stevens was actually attempting to help the people of the state, but that little bridge-gem was slipped in there as a "needed" project. Stevens has done his part for the good of Alaska, but he's also slipped into the leagues of Murkowski and Young by making this state is personal piggy bank.

The pull rope bridge Muerta is talking about is at an old copper mine over by Valdez. The pull trolley is awesome if you can get over your fear of heights. I may have some pics of it stashed away in my archives. I can root them out if anyone is interested.

I worked for a cargo company here for awhile so I have a limited understanding of the cost or the technical know-how to upgrade/repair a plane but I'm familiar with some of the reasoning on the types of aircraft and why they were purchased. Bethel, approx 350mi due west of Anchorage, has a population of roughly 20,000 and that doesn't count the outlying villages that third party carriers deliver to with their otters. I know we would haul 20,000lb of cargo there 7-10 times weekly. ATR-72's were the aircraft of choice, but Fedex began buying them wholesale pricing them out of the range of most carriers in Alaska. ATR-42's were a little small to make it profitable running that many multi-leg flights. The 727 was a gas guzzler, but Jet fuel is cheaper than fuel for the DC-6's that they were running, so they limped along on the 727 until the three 737-400's were done being retrofitted with cargo doors. The DC-6 was reserved for large loads, areas that still had gravel runways like Pilot Station and Red Dog, or for contracts that required unusual size loads like oil drilling equipment. I guess what I didn't clarify is that there are larger villages that serve as hubs to many smaller villages. Those larger villages are the ones that were getting the upgrades to the runways.