A Guide to the Alaska Highway ("Alcan")
Dateline: February 9, 2026.
We always enjoy finding "Then" photos of places we know "Now". On this page we have posted a total of six photos showing two sections of the highway, at the Yukon River bridge east of Whitehorse, and about a mile west of it. The bridge is at Historic Milepost 897, current Km 1393.
The first photo shows the original crossing of the Yukon River above the "Lewes River Dam" in 1943.
The next photo shows the current crossing ("the blue bridge"), shot from the same spot on August 26, 2020. The original road, mostly hidden by trees now, can be seen just to the right of the bridge.
All the buildings are now gone, and we've found no evidence in the forest that they ever existed.
The next photo shows the Alaska Highway just west of the Yukon River bridge in 1951. This view looks east, with the Lewes River Dam visible in the distance.
The next photo shows the view from the same spot on Google Streetview in September 2007. The view is slightly different because the road cut in the bank is now about 50 feet lower.
The next photo shows both the old and current roads, shot in August 2020.
The next photo is the current aerial view of both locations, showing the old and new roads, the older road being the one closer to the Yukon River.
The final photo shows the Lewes River Dam and the location of the future Alaska Highway and Yukon River Bridge, in about 1925.
