Alaska Highway - Mile 0

The Alaska Highway was the engineering marvel of World War II and was once described as the largest and most difficult construction project since the Panama Canal. In 1936, President Franklin D. Roosevelt lobbied Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King for a highway connecting Canada and Alaska. It could be used to shore up military defenses on the west coast in case of Japanese attack. It wasn‘t until the attack on Pearl Harbor that both nations agreed on the importance of such a road and quickly put the wheels in motion. The United States Army approved a plan for the construction of the Alaska Highway on Feb. 6, 1942 and received authorization from the U.S. Congress and President Roosevelt only five days later. Canada agreed to the construction if the U.S. would bear the full cost and that the road and all facilities in Canada were to be turned over to Canadian authority at the end of the war.

In less that nine months these hardy men managed to connect Dawson Creek, BC and Delta Junction, AK. Was für eine Leistung! 🫡

The Candian portion of The Alcan Highway is now marked with kilometer posts and due to highway reconstruction and re-routing over the years, the road is now 64km (40miles) shorter than the original Highway. Alaska, however, has not changed the original mileposts, so there is a mileage discrepancy of 40 miles when you cross the board.

Am späteren Nachmittag nach knapp 600km erreichten wir Dawson Creek, BC. Hier beginnt der Alaska Higway, bis nach Delta Junction sind es 2‘197km.Read more