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.
Tag Archives: highway
Typical day in Jack’s life, but to music
This is an amalgamation of video clips from the Dalton Highway between the Brooks Range and Prudhoe Bay. You’ll see the Trans-Alaska pipeline and a glimpse of Pump 2. It’s not in perfect order, as road aficionados and time clock watchers will notice. I’m new to video editing and sometimes you just have to accept a less than perfect product, to Jack’s chagrin.
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!
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.
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
Jack’s new truck & Palo Duro Canyon
Jack bought a new pick up truck! We picked it up in Amarillo, Texas and drove through Palo Duro Canyon State Park before heading on to New Mexico. Click on the first one and scroll to the right if you are interested!
Jack and his new truck!
Look at those huge ears on that jackrabbit!
An adorable prairie dog family (and could that be a burrowing owl in the background?).
Very different soils from what we are used to in Alaska.
Windmills and jack pumps everywhere!
Amazing dips and depressions in these brick roads, not all that different from what we deal with!
Military vehicles being hauled on rail.
They kept coming for a long time!
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.
Two truckers caught in an avalanche
Two truckers were caught in an avalanche Monday night on the Dalton. Jack was not involved and neither of the drivers were seriously hurt. The road is now closed and the State is working on trying to trigger avalanches before they reopen. We’ve had tons of snow, seems like a record breaking year for snow actually, but for some reason no one made the decision to deal with this before it got to this point.
There is a short dash cam video on the Alaska DOT Facebook page. And from the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner:
Photo credit: Jonothan James Kasak via the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner website
“One of the trucks that was stuck was a tanker carrying methanol; the other one carried glycol. When the highway reopens, the state Department of Environmental Conservation will evaluate whether there were any spills. The other two trucks were able to proceed with minimal assistance from a Department of Transportation crew, Bailey said.
Atigun Pass is one of a handful of mountain passes where work crews frequently fire Howitzer artillery at snowcovered slopes to trigger avalanches in order to prevent unplanned slides. Avalanche gates were installed on the south side of the pass three years ago to stop vehicles headed into avalanche danger. This was the first time the gate has been used.”
A normal winter day on the Dalton
Not a calm winter day, but a normal winter day. These were from last year, and actually the first three are from early April and the rest are from one day in mid-April 2016. Click on the first one and scroll to the right for best viewing.
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