|
Eastern North Slope conditionally open
The North Slope eastern coastal area is conditionally open for tundra travel, the Alaska Department of Natural Resources Division of Mining Land and Water’s Northern Regional Office said Dec. 19.
The western coastal area was opened for tundra travel Dec. 17.
In the eastern coastal area the division said snow depth criteria, 6 inches, had been met at all monitoring stations, but soil temperatures - minus 5 degrees C at a depth of 30 centimeters - had only been met at five of six stations. As of Dec. 18 the station just south of Deadhorse was reading minus 4.4 degrees C and projected to be below minus 5 degrees C within a week.
Openings apply only to operators with valid off-road vehicle permits to operate on state-owned lands, and for the eastern coastal area which has yet to meet the soil temperature requirement the division said special conditions or summer-approved vehicles may be required if off-road travel or ice road construction was requested in that area.
The lower and upper Foothills areas remain closed.
Some ice road construction approved The division said ice road construction has been approved for a number of projects within the coastal areas and for one project some 30 miles south of Deadhorse in the lower Foothills area.
The ice road authorization was granted for the Lower foothills area “after verifying site-specific snow and soil temperature conditions,” the division said.
The division said all operators intending to be active on the tundra should contact the DNR DMLW Northern Regional Office at 907-451-2740 for guidance and authorization prior to hitting the tundra.
For ice road or related work requests for approval need to include a map, a list of vehicles to be used, depths of snow in the area and a description of the activities to be conducted.
DNR staff will be on the North Slope the week of Jan. 5 to continue monitoring snow conditions, soil temperatures and ice road construction projects.
- Petroleum News
| 