Tag Archives: dalton highway

Upside Down Truck

Here’s a short video Jack took the other day at about mile 86 of the Dalton.  The truck got too close to the edge when it met another truck and went off the side and rolled over.  A tree trunk punctured the tanker and according to the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation about 3,000 gallons of ultra low sulfur diesel spilled onto the ground.  Here is a link to the local newspaper’s article about it.

Jack carries approximately 9,200 gallons in the tanker he uses.  Other tankers are larger or smaller.  All or most tankers have different compartments though so when one has a spill most likely it’s only that compartment that empties.  Having different compartments enables truckers to carry different types of liquids and/or put weight at different places in the load.

(YouTube has a bad habit of giving you the lowest resolution so if you want to see more detail try clicking one of the HD choices under settings in the lower right hand corner of the video screen.)

 

Pushing a crane

It’s quite common for a really heavy load to have one or more push trucks behind it to push when going up inclines.  Push trucks are commonly used on the Dalton Highway as well as the Parks and Richardson when the loads are outrageously heavy, otherwise it would take a very long time and so much fuel for the truck with the load to get up a mountain, and it would also impede traffic for long periods of time.  The push trucks just follow the load when not going up hills.

Taken 11 years ago, these photos really show how close Jack’s push truck gets to the load he’s pushing (a crane).  You can see the pad that the push bar pushes against, how the trucks make contact.

Rest in Peace Steve Hollibone

We are so sad for Steve’s wife Christy who he left behind when he died of cancer recently.  It is a huge fear for all of us and Steve had to face it.  He undoubtedly had other stresses when he was sick and we are sorry for that too.

Jack says Steve was a good driver and a good guy.  We would like to extend our sympathies to his wife and family.  Christy, hold on to your memories and know that you made his life worth living.

Galbraith Lake

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.

 

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.

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!!

Broken Bridge Beam

This short video was taken a couple of years ago when a truck carrying a bridge beam went off the road and flopped over.   It was a costly problem for whoever ended up paying for it.  It broke in the wreck so they tore it into pieces and hauled it away.