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Upgrades continue on Dalton Highway Second of four reconstruction projects starts, with eventual aim of paving northernmost 50 miles of the Haul Road to Deadhorse ALAN BAILEY Petroleum News
Work is progressing on upgrading the northern end of the Dalton Highway, the access road to Deadhorse and the North Slope oil fields. The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities is conducting the upgrades. The eventual intention is to pave the northerly section of the road, from mile 362 to mile 414, into Deadhorse, Meadow Bailey, DOT&PF public information officer, told Petroleum News.
As the only route for land transportation to the Slope, the road forms a vital transportation corridor for the shipping of equipment, materials and other supplies.
Flooding of the road as a consequence of winter overflow from the Sagavanirktok River between March and May 2015 closed the road in two separate episodes, causing major disruption to the overland supply chain for the oil industry - at that time, as a consequence, Gov. Bill Walker issued two states of emergency.
Coincidentally, DOT&PF had already planned to start its road reconstruction project in the summer of 2015, with the winter flooding adding impetus to the work. The flooding had impacted the stretch of road between miles 378 and 413.
Four projects under development In fact, DOT&PF has planned four distinct projects for the road from mile 362 to mile 414, with each of the first three projects targeting a specific section of the road, Bailey said. The fourth project will come in later to make some additional improvements to road sections and pave the complete 52 miles of upgraded highway, she said.
After the completion of emergency repairs to damage caused by the 2015 flooding, work on the first reconstruction project began in 2015, targeting the section of the road between miles 397 and 414.
“It’s a two-year project that started last year and will be finished this year,” Bailey said. “This summer we started another section in addition to that from miles 379 to miles 397, and that will be completed next year. Then next year (2017) we will begin the section from miles 379 to 362, and again it’s a two-year project.”
The timeframe for phase four, including the paving of the road, has yet to be determined.
On Aug. 3 the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers published for public comment an application from DOT&PF for a permit for the discharge of fill material and development of two gravel pits in association with the upgrade for miles 379 to 362.
$135 million DOT&PF anticipates total construction costs of about $135 million for the upgrades, Bailey said. Phase one is expected to cost $43 million and phase two $33 million. Phases three and four, which have yet to go out to bid, have estimated price tags of $38 million and $21 million.
The objectives of the upgrades vary a little from one section of the road to another. At the more northerly end, where the potential for flooding is a known issue, DOT&PF is re-enforcing the road for flood prevention. In the more southerly section, raising of the road surface by four feet will isolate the road from the underlying permafrost while also protecting the road from the drifting snow that can cause road closures, Bailey said.
Another road repair As previously reported in Petroleum News, DOT&PF is also planning a Dalton Highway upgrade project between miles 222 and 209, where road damage from heavy truck traffic and the effects of permafrost has necessitated repairs. At this section of the highway the road also needs to be repositioned, to avoid a slowly moving frozen debris lobe that could reach the highway’s current location in about nine years time.
Researchers from the University of Alaska Fairbanks are determining the exact cause and the speed of movement of the lobe - it probably results from the start of melting of the permafrost as the ground warms, Bailey said.
Bailey said that DOT&PF plans to start a section of that project next year and that the department has about $20 million to $30 million for the project. However, the department is unlikely to complete the project with available funds - the concept is to start the project, probably at milepost 209, and go as far as funding allows. The remainder of the work would then form a second project, to be conducted at a later time, Bailey said.
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