Railroad tracks

The rails in this approach to a railroad bridge near the head of Turnagain Arm were torn from their ties and buckled laterally by channelward movement of the riverbanks during the earthquake. The bridge was also com­ pressed and developed a hump from vertical buckling. Many unconsolidated deposits--especially fine-grained and water-saturated deposits--were greatly weakened by the earthquake-generated vibrations. These weakened deposits spread laterally toward stream banks, bluffs, and other laterally unconstrained or "free" faces, and produced widespread damage to railway and highway bridges, roads, and other installations.