Curved directional pipe for crude oil

Crude oil pipe on truckI snapped these on Friday when this truck was fueling up to head north.Crude oil pipe on truck

Jack says they are used for crude oil and that they lay on their sides, not upright like on the truck. You can see the actual metal portion of the pipe that is colored green with anti-corrosion paint.  The black is thinner metal and in between the two is foam insulation.

This load is obviously going to Deadhorse or Prudhoe Bay.  (FYI:  Deadhorse refers to the “town” where companies have their operations, and Prudhoe Bay refers to the actual oil fields and is a much larger area.)

Click on the photos for larger images.

 

Fundraiser for Steve Hollibone

Jack and I are so sorry to hear about Steve Hollibone’s cancer diagnosis.  He is a trucker that Jack knows and respects.  Sounds like he is in rough shape and daily life is a struggle.   You may remember a while back we posted about his wife Christy’s artwork.  You can see and purchase her artwork at Moments in Time Art.

If you are in Fairbanks please consider going to a fundraiser February 6th, here is the info:

Art For the Heart and Soul!
Opening Reception First Friday, February 6th, 5-8 pm
Phillips Studio & Bishop’s Jewelry Gallery
1222 Well St
Fairbanks 460-4198
Gallery open 11-8 pm on First Friday

And if you are not in Fairbanks, please consider making a donation to their medical fund.  http://www.gofundme.com/kuxi2o

Our best wishes to Steve and Christy.

Steve HolliboneSteve Hollibone

 

Truck in the ditch

More snow in the engine, but this time it’s from someone going in the ditch!  It seems to happen to everyone eventually and it’s better to land in the cushy snow instead of just about anywhere else.  After it got pulled out they cleaned the snow off and drove it away!

(Identifying marks have been removed for privacy.)

Snow-filled engine compartment

Jack snapped these shots after going through numerous snow drifts before he got into Prudhoe Bay.  The engine is operating fine and he didn’t need to do anything, but it’s interesting to see how the snow gets into all the available spaces.  The keypad looking thing is actually the air intake for the cab and the vent above it is the intake for the motor.  Even though the engine is 200 degrees plus it’s still not enough to melt the snow at these temperatures, about 20 or 30 below.

The engine after going through snow drifts

Snow filled engine

Memory Foam Clouds

Jack took these photos a couple of days ago.  The clouds have a really weird consistency to them, like there are air pockets underneath that are pushing them up in patches.

 

It’s kind of hard to make it out but the clouds are indented from the bottom.
It almost looks like there are mountains in the distance but it’s all clouds.
The clouds look like a layer of memory foam being pressed on from below.

Mod Lift at Alpine

Hard to believe this was 10 years ago, Jack says.  This is a mod lift at the Alpine oil fields (mod is short for modular), back when he was doing heavy haul.  Since it’s been so many years all he had to say about it was that he hauled this prefabricated unit to Alpine from Valdez and the workers there got busy lifting it off his truck.  It took all day actually.  That was one part of heavy haul he doesn’t miss.

 

Donjek River Bridge, follow up

A few months after Jack helped haul bridge beams to the Donjek River Bridge in Canada, he went back to haul the beams from the staging area off the road onto the ice where they were constructing the bridge. (Best viewed if you click on the first one and scroll to the right.)  See captions for more info.

Two cranes are needed to pick up bridge beams, one on each end, since they will break if they are picked up from the middle. In the construction process they are pre-stressed to take weight from the top and won’t hold up if lifted from the middle.
The old bridge is on the left and the cranes are moving down onto the river.
Jack is down on the frozen river here with the new bridge on the left and what looks to him like concrete joints on the right.
The orange tarp is covering the concrete and keeping the warmth in from heaters so that it will cure.
The 2 cranes are on their way up to the staging area where they will pick up the beams and place them onto the trailers for the trucks to bring them down to the river where the cranes will then pick them back up and place them on the bridge in their correct positions.
They are loaded and following the cranes back down to the river.

Elk antlers in a tree trunk

Check out this elk skull and antlers that got engulfed by a tree!  The skull is encased by wood completely; the antler tips stick out on either side of the trunk of the tree that grew around it.  Jack and I found this display at the Prairie Creek Visitor Center in northern California along the Pacific Coast.  Will wonders never cease!?

Elk skull encased in a tree
Antler tips sticking out of a madrone tree
Elk on the Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway
Northern Flicker thrown in for good measure

Hauling Pipe Rack Units to Prudhoe

A few years ago Jack and some other truckers took these pipe rack units from Fairbanks to Alpine, an area of Prudhoe Bay owned by Conoco-Phillips.  You’ll see the units being loaded, then Jack driving behind other units. You can see the pipes in the middle of the structure as well as the valve controls on the top.  These units are lined up next to each other and connected as part of the process of extracting oil and getting it into the pipeline to go south.  In one of the ice road photos you can see a pipeline on the right.

They drive through tundra, over mountains, and finally on the ice roads of Prudhoe Bay.  The last couple of photos, the ones where the road doesn’t look particularly icy, they are passing over a river.  If you are also rather astute (and here I am giving you a clue) you can also see Jack’s reflection in the mirror, as well as a reflection of the small fan that he had mounted on the dash that could turn toward the windshield to defrost it or toward him on hot days.

(The best way to view the photos is to click on the first one and then click on the right arrow.)

Driving the Dalton

Jack finally took a video of driving down the road.  It seems like a silly thing to do but people have requested more videos and this one shows what most of his job is like, on the good days.  🙂

(If these appear blurry change your resolution settings on the bottom right side of the player.)

 

Happy New Year!!