Photos: Mears Memorial Bridge over Tanana River

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The Mears Memorial Bridge spanning the Tanana River at Nenana was finished in 1923 and was the final link in the Alaska Railroad. Photographed along the Parks Highway at Nenana on Thursday, August 28, 2014.

The Mears Memorial Bridge spanning the Tanana River at Nenana was finished in 1923 and was the final link in the Alaska Railroad. The 700-foot-long bridge was the longest in Alaska until this year, when the railroad bridge crossing the Tanana at Salcha was completed.

President Warren G. Harding drove the ceremonial Golden Spike just north of the Mears Memorial Bridge in July 1923, signifying the completion of the Alaska Railroad. The simple truss bridge was designed by the Chicago firm of Ralph Modjeski and Angier and built by the American Bridge Company. Photographed along the Parks Highway at Nenana on Thursday, Aug. 28, 2014.