The Dalton Highway is passable once again

From the Alaska Department of Transportation website:

The first vehicles traveling south on the Dalton Highway, Mile 413. ADOT&PF photo. (CLICK TO ENLARGE)

(PRUDHOE BAY, Alaska) – The Dalton Highway has reopened to traffic after an 18-day closure caused by massive spring breakup flooding.

Traffic began moving on the road at 8 a.m. this morning. The highway is open to two-way traffic, but drivers will encounter a section with flaggers and pilot car at Mile 412-414. The road remains in rough condition through the flood zone at Miles 392-414, with multiple narrow sections and an uneven surface. Drivers are urged to travel slowly and watch for signs.

The reopening of the highway marks a milestone for the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (ADOT&PF), which has been handling the Dalton flood response since the initial overflow problems in March. The cost of this spring’s emergency response totals $15.5 million.

Flooding on the section of highway south of Deadhorse began in mid-March when overflow from the Sagavanirktok (Sag) River began spilling onto the highway. River aufeis accumulated in the bottom of the shallow and braided river and pushed the flowing water to the top, though temperatures in the area remained below freezing.

For more go to http://dot.alaska.gov/comm/pressbox/arch_2015/PR15-2534.shtml#

Unbelievable flooding photos from ADN

May22

From Alaska Dispatch News:

Loren Holmes / ADN

DEADHORSE — Unprecedented flooding continues to interfere with daily operations on the North Slope oil patch after surging waters wiped away swaths of the Dalton Highway and isolated a section of Deadhorse, the jumping-off point for the sprawling industrial region.

“This is just epic,” said Mike Coffey, commander of the unified incident command, a response team consisting of the state, the North Slope Borough and oil companies. “People who have been here for decades say they’ve never seen anything like it.”

The state has estimated the costs of the damage and repairs since March at $5.1 million. The federal government may pay for much of that, since the icing and flooding on the highway has been declared a disaster, said Coffey, the director of state transportation maintenance and operations.

You can see more photos and get a lot of more info from the article: http://www.adn.com/article/20150521/epic-flooding-dalton-highway-hinders-north-slope-oil-operations

What water can do to a road

May20

Photos from Joe Kemp of the Dalton Highway eroding because of the Sag River overflow near Prudhoe Bay.

The road is officially washed out now

May19

Another jarring image from Alaska Department of Transportation. The road is definitely washed out now. Yikes!

http://dot.alaska.gov/nreg/dalton-updates/

And here is another link for tons of photos and videos from AK DOT & PF:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/akdotpf/sets/72157651922122696/with/16982351150/

Aerial photos of the road closure from Alaska DOT

May18

Jack said “Holy Sh**!” when he looked at the Alaska Department of Transportation page today. Not because of the photos of the road flooding but when he saw this:

2015: Dalton Highway 401-414 Reconstruction, will start this summer and is a two year project. Construction contract award is $27 million. The scope of the project is to reconstruct the Dalton Highway from Mile Post 401-414, improvements include raising the grade seven feet, replacing culverts and surfacing the road.

2016: Dalton Highway 379-401 Reconstruction, scheduled for construction in 2016, estimated cost is $40-50 million. The scope of the project is to reconstruct the Dalton Highway from Mile Post 379-401, improvements including raising the grade seven feet, replacing culverts and surfacing the road.

This will raise the road 7 feet above the tundra, so when someone goes off the road, it will be a lot bigger deal. Here is the link for that Alaska DOT page: http://dot.alaska.gov/nreg/dalton-updates/

Here are two aerial photos of the flooding, both from the Alaska DOT webpage. Click on the photos for more info on the captions.

On the left you can see the remnants of a berm that was created by excavators to hopefully hold the water back and direct it away from the road. But the water has now spilled over the road and broken through the berm. You can also see how the road is washing away. From AK DOT webpage.

On the top of the photo are more berms that were created to direct the water away from the road. From AK DOT webpage.

Video from right before current road closure

May18

This is a video from trucker John Slater that shows how the Dalton looked last Saturday. The road is now closed because of the overflowing Sag River making it impassable once again. See prior posts for more info.

https://youtu.be/p9O2ca5WfNE

Cleared lane through avalanche blockage

May17

Here is a quick video from when Jack went through the cleared lane that the State of Alaska loader made after the avalanche on Atigun Pass. Don’t forget you can change the settings in the lower right hand corner if the video looks grainy.

Avalanche blocks the road on Atigun Pass

May17

A few days ago Jack was held up for a couple of hours because of this avalanche that blocked the road on Atigun Pass. To me, it looks like a small avalanche. But Jack says this is the average amount of snow that usually falls on the road in this spot. Other areas involve more snow, or less.

If a truck was caught in the path of this avalanche, it could have pushed the truck over the guard rail and ended up rolling it down the hill. This is very rare nowadays since the State of Alaska does more avalanche control, shooting artillery at the mountain to dislodge the snow.

You can see the blocked road, the loader removing the snow, and also the melt water that was running alongside the road before the avalanche and which is crossing the road afterward. The last photo shows the loader dumping water as well as snow. They are best viewed if you click on the first one and scroll to the right. I had to substantially lighten the photos because of low light conditions. You can see the sun over the next hill and all the trucks waiting on the other side of the blockage. This is about 10:30 at night.

Motor home goes off the road

May9

Jack happened upon a motor home that got too close to the edge and got sucked into the soft shoulder on the Taylor Highway a few miles north of Chicken, Alaska. In these photos Jack drives up to the gathering of vehicles with people who are there to get this problem taken care of. The tow truck is there and they have already pulled the motor home so that it is perpendicular to the road so they can get it out. The sad couple stands nearby; even if their insurance is paid up there was undoubtedly a loss of valuables and a sad ending to the trip they’ve planned for months. Sadly, it’s not the first time it has happened and it won’t be the last. (Click on the first image and scroll to the right.)

Dalton road conditions, April 15th

Apr19

The road is in much better condition now, but it’s still a work in progress. It’s open 24 hours now but only one lane with a pilot vehicle. More info on the captions of the photos. They were taken the 15th of April. The very first photo is out of order – I put it in front to show what the road is supposed to look like at this time of year. It was taken closer to Prudhoe, after Jack passed through the hazardous area.

Click on the first one and scroll to the right.

Jack is on the other side of the flooded area now. This is what the road is supposed to look like at this time of year.

Only a couple of these rough areas exist right now with water flowing under the snow and ice.

Most of the area that was formerly closed looks like this, one lane with large berms on the right side where the Sag River is overflowing. Jack is heading north.