Lost load, an explosion box

Nov4

Years ago Jack came across this load that fell off a truck north of Coldfoot. Click on the first one and scroll to the right. More info on the captions.

Jack is pretty sure this is an “explosion box”, a portable unit that’s probably used as a break room next to a rig most of the time, but it’s most crucial use is as an explosion shelter. If there’s a an explosion individuals can stay in it for protection. It’s actually upside down here and the damaged attached boxes are probably heaters or ventilation units.

The driver was looking to the left, drove off the road on the right, then turned the steering wheel abruptly to get back on the road, breaking the chains that held the box down and tossing it off the trailer.

Marks where the box first hit the ground.

This is most likely how the fallen load was tied down. This truck is carrying a similar unit.

There are four chains here. The fallen load was probably tied down correctly but the force was enough to break pieces of the trailer, probably not the chains themselves.

Jack’s first heavy haul load

Mar27

This was Jack’s first heavy haul load. He wasn’t actually part of the a heavy haul division yet but obviously it was a landmark load for him.

You can see the partially melted snow and the dry road. We are almost to that point in the year right now, and you can probably believe that it is an exciting time for us Alaskans who have snow 8 or 9 months of the year!

Happy Spring and Happy Easter!

Load of pipe goes off the road

Mar26

The drive line of this truck broke coming down 5 mile last summer. Just like putting it in neutral, the motor didn’t help slow him down. While trying to stop the truck going downhill the driver smoked his brakes, then coasted up 6 mile hill. His brakes wouldn’t hold him when he coasted to a stop, they were too hot. So then he rolled backwards into the ditch. There’s more than accidents that go on up on the road but most of it isn’t exciting enough to post. 🙂

Click to enlarge.

Tire fire & burned trailer

Feb20

Here’s a few photos of a burned trailer Jack took some years ago. He came across it north of Coldfoot. He’s not sure how the tires caught fire, but somehow they did. It could’ve been that the driver got a couple of flat tires and kept driving, or that the brakes locked up. He suspects the brakes did not release for some reason. There’s more explanation on the captions, click on the first one and scroll to the right to see them all.

This truck may have been going to auction or it could have been on its way to a new job site.

Somehow the fire did manage to burn the cab somewhat.

This diesel tank probably burned because there was fuel in it. It didn’t explode. At some point the metal straps that were holding the tanks up to the truck melted and the tanks dropped onto the trailer. The burnt piece of wood most likely came from the wood deck of the flat bed.

You can see the back of a brake can on the right side and one of the brake springs on the left.

What a nasty mess.

Smashed truck!

Feb13

Jack doesn’t remember much of a back story on this but it happened a few years ago and no one died. It went off the road and rolled over. Yikes! (Click for a larger view.)

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A Glorious Morning on the Road

Feb6

An amazing thing happened when I was on the road with Jack one time.

We woke up at what the truckers call 62 Mile, a good-sized pullout used by truckers and tourist buses and just anyone traveling the road. It was late September and the drive up north had been sunny and crispy cool. I could not have gotten luckier on a time to be on the Haul Road. Orange and yellow autumn colors abounded and even a pink birch tree showed up every so many miles. (Click to enlarge.)

No snow had fallen, but when we woke up that morning at 62 Mile the tundra outside was a winter wonderland. There were tourists milling about, gazing at the frosty grasses that surround the pull out.

And as you can see, there was a long line at the restroom, so I decided to take a walk out onto the tundra, and I’m so glad I did.

I discovered frost-covered fireweed, spider webs glinting in the morning light, and best of all, an absolutely stunning mist rainbow. I hadn’t known they even existed before, but now I have proof they do. As the frost was evaporating off the tundra, the water vapor in the air created a rainbow that shimmered in the sun’s light. As I stood watching, the sunlight slowly burned off the frost on the ground, leaving plants thawed on one side and still frozen on the other, and the glorious rainbow eventually faded away with the warmth of day.

A moment of astounding beauty. Luckily, I took a quick video and lots of photos, some of which may give an inkling of how amazing that morning was. If anyone ever tells you that the arctic tundra is a frozen wasteland with no redeeming qualities, here is proof that it is not true.

(Click on the first one and scroll to the right.)

Trans-Alaska Pipeline with mist behind it

https://youtu.be/JeI3ikTwrkk

Huge mod is pushed up “Koyukuk”

Jan30

The hill that drivers call “Koyukuk” is right next to the Koyukuk River and it’s one of the steepest on the Dalton. It’s about 30 miles south of Coldfoot. The video was taken last winter.

Jack happened to be there to document this huge mod being pushed up the hill by push trucks and also being steered from the back because it’s so long. If you look close you can see someone standing outside on the load as it goes up the hill – he’s steering the rear end as it goes around the curves. The guy doing the steering is one of the former owners of Carlile and he comes up the Dalton for these types of loads that need some special care. (Carlile was sold to Saltchuk Corporation a while ago.)

In case you are wondering, the truck is going pretty slow, about 5 miles an hour in 3rd gear. The last thing you ever want to do, Jack says, is change gears when you’re going that slow with that much weight since you’ll stop before you get it into a different gear. If you stop it’ll take a while to get going again and without the momentum you’re putting a lot of strain on the truck and there’s too much potential for breaking something. The years Jack spent in heavy haul were great years he says, but he doesn’t miss it.

Jack’s Freightliner

Jan2

Jack is driving a new truck, a Freightliner. He’s discussed this a little in the comments section of the About page. Jesse Aird asked: “Why the Freightliner? Hard to beat a W9.” Jack answered:

“Well, my bosses asked me if I wanted to try it out and I know a lot of owner operators have them up here and like them, so I did. Turns out the engine is great (DD16), there’s lots of room in the cab, and I don’t feel exhausted at the end of several trips in a row, maybe because of the comfortable seat. The truck rides better. I don’t care what brand it is as long as it’s comfortable and reliable.”

He added to Pete Wylie aka Straight Arrow: “There is something about the Freightliner that makes a better ride. It takes bumps better.”

So there you have it, why Jack is driving a Freightliner.

Happy New Year!

Dalton Highway road construction – June 6 (3 of 3)

Jun14

Here are the last of the photos from when Jack was leaving Prudhoe Bay on June 6th. There’s more info on the captions. Click on the first one and scroll to the right.

The top is the berm that was created in hopes of keeping the river back and the gap underneath is from where water was flowing.

The remnant on top of the hole was snow pushed up into a berm to try to stop the water flow.

This is the west side of the road, not the Sag River to the east.

East side where the river is, still partly frozen.

A big chunk of grounded river ice in the background.

The Sag in the background.

Eroded road and the pipeline is buried right there.

Staged culverts, but not needed. Probably 40 feet long.

Those white broken pieces are foam board insulation used to prevent the ground ice from melting if it is exposed for some reason. They are now trash.

Another section of reconstructed road.

These concrete forms were originally used to weigh down the pipeline as it was laid, in the 1970s, so that it wouldn’t move or float away, but aren’t needed when the oil is flowing.

Here they’re being used as erosion control for the natural gas line that runs from Prudhoe to Pump Station 4.

Waiting as material gets laid.

Staged culverts, probably not needed.

A Kenworth logo on Jack’s steering wheel thrown in for good measure.

Dalton Highway road construction – June 6 (2 of 3)

Jun13

Here are more photos from when Jack was leaving Prudhoe on June 6th. There’s more info on the captions. Click on the first one and scroll to the right.