Land barges of the North

Judy Patrick

Special to PNA

My introduction to rollagons has been a long time coming. Although I have seen them from a distance and knew that because of their unique low-tire pressure system they could travel across the Arctic tundra in summer and winter, I had never photographed one. Now I would be travelling west for some six hours at speeds of up to 15 miles per hour to two exploration drilling sites located in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. The rollagons were transporting two drill rigs, fuel and other supplies. The rigs alone consisted of 180 loads apiece.

Rollagons were originally designed and built by Bechtel Corp. in 1967. Six were delivered to Alaska in 1968. The next 12 were built in 1974 and the “brand new ones were built in 1980,” Don Tunks, Crowley All-Terrain Corp.’s manager of operations and maintenance, tells me.

The name Rollagon actually applies to a much smaller vehicle used for seismic work and refers specifically to the tires on the vehicles. Even though CATCO’s machines are commonly called Rollagons, technically CATCO cannot use that name.

“We call them units or vehicles,” Tunks explains. CATCO’s 29 units are the only ones in the world. They operate virtually the same as they did when they first arrived on the North Slope, with two exceptions; these units are equipped with cellular phones and GPS navigational aids.

“I came here in ’74,” Tunks says. “There wasn’t much here; a couple of ATCO units for the airport terminal. There were very few people and I don’t remember any women. The road went from East Dock to the Kuparuk River and stopped. On the other side it went to Service City, but it didn’t cross the river.”

Referred by some as the “Neanderthals of the North Slope,” even CATCO’s camps are vintage 1970s.

When we arrive at our location I am told that the accommodations were the original Mukluk camp at Deadhorse when all that was there was the airstrip, the ATCO units and this camp. “I think ARCO had a camp then and BP’s was under construction,” Tunks tells me.

This camp’s newest features include a satellite dish and new beds.

“The other beds were so old the springs were popping out, I think they were the originals,” Dave Parmeter tells me as we visit during our six hour trek. He’s been with the company for 23 years, and is now a foreman. The other drivers refer to him as a “trail boss.”

The drivers are a loyal bunch. A “new” employee, Al Odom, explains to me that he is still learning trail navigation in white out conditions since he has “only been doing this for four years.”

There are even a few second generation employees. Timmy Schloesser’s dad, Duane, was on the Prudhoe discovery well in 1968, Tunks says. “He was one of the early, early hands and Carl McNabs dad, Bill ‘Duck Leg’ McNab, was a welder.”

There are several drivers who started as trainees out of high school including Parmenter, my escort, and Patrick Mekiama, from Anaktuvuk Pass. “We’ve had one whole generation retire since I’ve started,” Tunks comments.

Running on trails day and night these unique “land barges” pioneer ice roads, transport drill rigs, fuel, supplies and even construct ice pads in extreme locations and conditions.

“From the marine side we call them land barges because of their large16 foot platform” explains Craig Tornga, Crowley’s Alaska manager.

I call them the best thing to happen to my Arctic photography experience since AA Lithium batteries. The heaters work great, and even Ansel Adams preferred a working platform 10 feet in the air (he used a wooden platform on top of his Land Rover).

On the ride back with Parmenter we encounter white out conditions and howling winds most of the way. Occasionally he rolls down his side window and looks straight down at the ground, saying he is checking to see if we are traveling in the same direction as the skid marks on the trail.

“Stretch” is behind us. They always travel in pairs for safety reasons.

After we arrive safely at our destination I ask Dave how he learned to navigate like that. His reply was simple: “I learned from the best, Don Tunks.”