Suspension Bridge may Replace Hand Tram

By Soren Wuerth

TNews Editor

Rather than looking into an abyss with a raging Glacier Creek below, hikers may soon be able to cross a yawning gap along the Winner Creek trail via a suspension bridge.

Planners introduced the bridge's design at several meetings in the past few weeks. After considering several options, a suspension bridge was the clear winner.

A conceptual drawing of a suspension bridge planned to replace an existing, shackled, hand tram.

The $1.2 million bridge would be six feet wide and span 206 feet. Two steel towers, rising 25 feet, would hang cables, a safety "webnet" and a fiberglass deck across a gulf with a 50 foot drop to the creek below.

The towers will be built on existing foundations at either bluff, although the tower on the Glacier Creek side will have to be repositioned, said Kyle Kelley, Girdwood's service area manager. The US Forest Service is collaborating on the project and will take over maintenance of the bridge after it's installed.

Glacier Creek rumbles with high water below the existing tram line.

The hand tram, opened in 2001, closed for good in 2019 after two people fell in separate incidents. One person died when trying to help others cross, the other suffered serious injuries. One of the tram buildings will be moved aside to serve as an interpretive shelter, featuring the tram's history, engineering and a history of the area in the Glacier Creek watershed.

The proposal will be brought up again during Girdwood Board of Supervisor's Sept. 18 meeting.

(Correction: The tram and proposed suspension bridge cross Glacier Creek. TNews regrets this obvious error.)