Tag Archives: alaska

Jack pulls over for an oversize load

About an hour after leaving Prudhoe Bay, Jack meets a pilot car for an over-sized load so he stops at a pull-out and waits.  You’ll see the trucks in back of the big load go around it, then a truck that will be traveling faster than Jack goes ahead of him.

The big load is a 400,000 pound mod (modular unit) and there were four 70,000 pound push trucks to get it from Fairbanks to the last hill which is about 60 miles south of Prudhoe.  Only one push truck is needed to get it the rest of the way into Prudhoe and that’s the one you can see here.

(Your volume needs to be turned up on this one.)

How fast is Jack going?

Recently someone asked how fast Jack is driving in these videos.  The answer is, the fastest Jack drives on the Dalton is 55 miles an hour.  His truck is governed at 55, meaning it is programmed to be unable to go faster than that.  The speed limit of the Dalton Highway is 50 miles an hour, so he is given that extra 5 miles an hour in order to let him gain a little speed before going up the steep grades of the hills and mountains.

Of course he drives a variety of speeds.  Things he slows down for are curves, rough patches, frost heaves, and animals.  And when you see him meeting other trucks as a general rule he slows down to about 35.  That is for safety primarily, but also etiquette.

So here’s another video, this one of a night drive, which is what the Haul Road experience consists of most of the time in the winter.  (Don’t forget, the volume is loud.)

The road is cleared!

Recently the Dalton was drifted shut near Slope Mountain.  This video starts right after 2 blades (graters) clear the road and one parks in front of Jack.  If it weren’t for the plowed path, you can’t really tell where the road is unless you watch the delineaters, those reflective markers on each edge.

Driving into Fairbanks at night

Here’s a new video of Jack driving into Fairbanks the other night, sped up so it’s not too tedious.  It’s pretty late so not much is going on.  Some trucks cleaning up the Steese Highway, that’s about it.  It’s in HD so don’t let YouTube show you a poor quality video, if you have decent internet.  And it does have some music on it so you may want to reduce the volume if you are sensitive to that.  When you add music through YouTube, you can’t determine the volume, so it’s loud.

Purposeful avalanches on Atigun Pass

About a week ago the State of Alaska triggered some avalanches on Atigun Pass and then cleared a path through for the trucks.  The first video is a short one taken right after the loader and blower were done and the second one is longer and that’s when Jack was heading back the other direction, toward Prudhoe Bay.  Thanks to the State for being proactive in keeping our truckers safe!

 

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Loads from days past

Here’s a gallery of photos of various loads Jack has hauled or encountered in his days of driving the Dalton.  Click on the first one and scroll to the right.

Coming back from Prudhoe with a dozer.
Heading north with a dozer in the summertime, fueling up at Hilltop.
Hauling a crane.
Making room for a wide load climbing 3 Mile on the Dalton.
Chained up to start the trip from Hilltop going north (Jack was pushing)..
A Stryker, going to Anchorage.
A turbine in a box in Healy, going to Prudhoe.
Eighty foot pipe for a pipeline.
Who knows what’s in this mod going to Prudhoe.
A couple of cooling units in Glennallen after they were barged to Valdez.
The same kind of load, but turned around and very dirty. Fueling up in Coldfoot.
Not a very big loader but weight restrictions during break up resulted in this long trailer.
Somebody is being funny.
An insulated tank from Greer Welding.
Same load. This tank can sit on its end or on its side.
Pushing a big Volvo loader.
A mod, not covered with plastic.
The same mod – Jack is pushing it to Prudhoe.
Twelve wide trailer with mod going north.
The same trailer (with booster decked up) being pushed back to Fairbanks.

 

 

Caribou & moose herds

This is what it looks like when caribou cross your path on the Dalton Highway (click on the first one and scroll to the right to see them full size):

And here are three moose next to the Welcome to Fairbanks sign on the Parks Highway, taken the day after the caribou but there was no snow in Fairbanks at that time (10 days ago).  Jack says this is a bull and his harem.  You can barely see the one on the other side of the bushes but Jack says he’s a young bull trying to build a harem.  The moose on the right looks to me like a young moose, possibly a calf of the cow.   All-about-moose.com says about this topic:  “The taiga moose calf will stay within visible proximity whereas with tundra moose calves they will generally avoid the harems the bulls collect. Bulls will tolerate yearlings but for the most part calves avoid the harem group.”  We didn’t even know there was a difference between taiga and tundra moose.

 

Heavy haul load with 2 push trucks

For some reason, years ago, Jack documented this heavy haul load quite thoroughly so why not share it with you guys.  This is a 2006 heavy haul load with 2 push trucks going up Atigun Pass on the Dalton Highway, and coming down the other side.  The load might be some kind of heater, maybe to heat the oil going down the pipeline, but Jack’s not totally sure.  It’s an outside unit so didn’t need to be covered.  Click on the first one and scroll to the right.

Leaving Hilltop, nice and clean
Jack’s push truck
Climbing the Shelf before Atigun Pass
Starting up Atigun Pass
At the top
Bottom of the northbound side of the pass

White out & truck off the road

At some point every year white out conditions occur on the Dalton where you can see barely 20 feet in front of you.  Here are some photos from last year.  Someone went off the road and laid their truck over on its side.  Click on the first one and scroll to the right.