The YUKON RIVER was a barrier to builders of the trans-Alantic pipeline. Before the bridge, trucks were ferried across the river by hovercraft during the summer and driven over the ice in the winter.

Crews labored through 1974-1975 to build the bridge. They worked first from barges then atop the river ice. Some actually worked on the river's bed, inside hugh waterproof shafts called cofferdams. The bridge was opened to truck traffic in October 1975. Supplies headed North could be moved more efficiently and the pipe itself had a place to rest above the river's current.