File:Bell telephone magazine (1922) (14753802824).jpg

Identifier: belltelephonevol3132mag00amerrich (find matches)
Title: Bell telephone magazine
Year: 1922 (1920s)
Authors: American Telephone and Telegraph Company American Telephone and Telegraph Company. Information Dept
Subjects: Telephone
Publisher: (New York, American Telephone and Telegraph Co., etc.)
Contributing Library: Prelinger Library
Digitizing Sponsor: Internet Archive

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etting poles to jcarry the open wire lines to Tok June- Ition. j Construction work, like that of :staking the route, had all the difficul-ties and special problems summed up 1In the word Alaska. The Bell Sys-tem men and the contractors crewlabored along winding river valleys,on the sides of sharp bluffs, in can-yons. In tangled underbrush. In frozentreeless tundra, and In swamps ordeep forest It was necessary to masterwith axes and bulldozers. The menworked within sight of glaciers andmountain ranges snow-capped even Inthe brief summer. The line crossestwo mountain ranges, and consider-able maneuvering and effort were re-quired to get equipment over the topsof some of the ridges. Sometimes thehighway made for easy access to thescene of activities, but occasionally themen were forced to follow old trails,to cross lakes, and to struggle throughdamp or frozen muck. The frozen, treeless tundra offeredus special problems. The upper sur- 19J2-53 Extending Uncle Sarns Voiceways ui Alaska 225
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• • ^^♦/C T^^ //?7^ strides along on a series of peninsulas reaching out into Lake Mentasta— thanks to those who rebuilt the road I face of the tundra is generally cov-ered by moss, saturated with water,which acts as an insulating material, for a permanently frozen sub-surfaceI called permafrost. As long as this; covering is not disturbed, the perma-: frost remains solid. In summer, al-: though the top of the tundra thaws,the permafrost beneath ordinarilydoes not. Therefore, the surfacewater cannot run off or be absorbed,and the ground remains a soggymarsh, often several feet deep and allbut impassable. Fast-flowing, rocky streams, ra-vines, and steep descents were over-come by long-span construction.Twenty-two such long-span crossings,ranging from 400 to 1800 feet, werenecessary. One river, which was2700 feet wide, required us to build three 900-foot spans in tandem. Twointermediate fixtures were set in thewater on steel piling driven in perma-frost to a depth of 24 feet. To

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