Tundra remains closed for winter off-road travel

The Department of Natural Resources said Dec. 12 that it has completed an assessment of snow conditions and soil temperatures on the North Slope and all areas remain closed to tundra travel.

Soil temperature has moved below minus 5 degrees Celsius at 11 of the 19 monitoring stations. Snow is very deep this year, the department said, with snow depths above that required for tundra opening at all but one station.

The target of the foothills tundra opening areas is 9 inches of snow and minus 5 degrees C soil temperature at a depth of 30 centimeters. The target for coastal areas is 6 inches of snow and minus 5 degrees C soil temperature at 30 centimeters.

The department said pre-packing ice road routes using summer-approved vehicles has been approved for several projects, allowing soil temperatures to drop to the extent that some projects have been approved to move forward with ice road construction.

Pre-packing must be approved by the department.

—Petroleum News