U.S. Army completes 1,500-mile Alaska Highway in eight months during WWII

After the December 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States deemed a land link to Alaska essential for defense, prompting an agreement with Canada to build a highway across the remote north. Construction started in March 1942, employing over 10,000 U.S. Army engineers and civilian laborers who worked nonstop in extreme cold and difficult terrain. The two advancing teams met at mile 588 in September, and the highway was declared substantially complete by late October, with a formal dedication at Soldier’s Summit on November 20, 1942.

The original route featured gravel surfaces, makeshift pontoon bridges and log-laid “corduroy” sections, and suffered major damage when permafrost melted in the spring of 1943, necessitating months of repairs. Post-war, the U.S. Public Roads Administration converted the road for civilian traffic, returning the Canadian segment to Canada in 1946 and opening the highway to the public in 1948. Today the Alaska Highway is a paved, well-maintained scenic route attracting tourists from Dawson Creek, British Columbia to Delta Junction, Alaska.