# 21 Days North of the Arctic Circle



## Lyndon

Grab your 'Arctic Gear', Hop on to BP/Arco/Phillips/Conoco's 737.


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## Lyndon

1 hour and 50 minutes later we'll be landing at Kuparup, this is 300 Miles North of the Arctic circle. todays Ambient is -29!


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## Lyndon

When you get off the Shared Services 737 at Kuparuk there is no Air Terminal, you walk down stairs to 4 waiting Busses and one small (Twin Otter) aircraft, get on the approiate bus or plane to take you to your camp. We'll get on the Milne Point Bus. It's about a 30 minute ride to Milne.


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## Lyndon

We go by S-pad on the way to Milne, and "Texaco" pad, which has 3 temporary Mobile Rig Camps on it. We will be replacing one of our underground pipelines with a new above ground pipeline. The camps will house the pieline construction crew. Our permanent camp at Milne is full to capacity, 300 People.


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## Lyndon

This is A-Pad, which has yet another Camp for the drill rig on it. I went to do an inspection here this morning.


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## Lyndon

When it gets light out, around 11.00 AM, I'll go get some pictures of them building the Ice Road that wil be servicing the construction of the new pipeline. 



"C-Pad" where I'm headed to witness testing of a High Voltage Cable.


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## Lyndon

These are the 3 Teemporary "Man-Camps" that will house the Pipeline Construction Crew. 





There Set up in a Horseshoe arraingement. One is already occupied, they are still working on getting the other 2 livable. Did you see it in the middle photo?


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## Lyndon

Now I've seen everything! This is a first even for me! A Tracked manlift!

They are NOT Matt tracks either!


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## Melensdad

Do they truck those living units into place and just hook them together?

I'd like to know more about those if you get a chance.

That man lift looks like a Genie.  I've used those . . . but with wheels!


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## Ice Queen

Wow, more please - very interesting.


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## Lyndon

In answer to your question Bob S, the Man Camps are completely Mobile. They have generators to keep them warm while traveling so that they don't have to drain the pipes, then there is a seperate unit that is the Power House and Water Treatment Plant that hooks up to it. More Pictures to come!
During the remaining 19 days of my three week hitch you should ge the "Play by play" on the new pipeline. Just finished lunch, and it's finally light out, but I have to hurry, for in another hour and a half it will be dark.


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## pixie

Thanks for the pictures 

Yes, I saw it 

Do you get the same room every hitch ? Are the rooms OK or really tiny and all white ??


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## Lyndon

This is Doyan's Mobil Rig Camp for Rig#14. It's Delux! I stayed in it some 10 years ago when it was new, for about 10 days. 

It splits in half down that black line about where the row of pick-up's ends. they can move it in a day and have it ready to live in the same day.


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## Lyndon

It even has 2 Microwave dishes, one for communications, and one for sattellite TV.

This One-Story unit off to the right of the camp, but roughly center of this picture is the Power House and Water Treatment Plant, and weighs in around 500,000 Lbs+. You can see that they are only running one generator from the plume off the exhaust. The other unit is the standby in case they need to work on the other generator.


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## Lyndon

Back of the Power Plant and tires under the main camp.


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## Lyndon

Signs give the Height as 57 feet, and the width around 40 feet. 

Notice the extensive Bear Protection for the Dumpster on the back end of the camp.


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## Lyndon

A rather unique "Rolligon" tanker, parked in front of the Camp. It will be used in the up coming Ice Road construction. The tires are 8 foot wide.


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## Lyndon

An Instrument and electrical module, with some sizable drifts. The New Pipeline starts at this pad and jumps to 3 more pads, before tying into an existing above ground pipe.


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## Lyndon

They are just starting the Ice Road Construction. First it gets stomped on and graded by dozers and loaders. A survey crew has already put up a system of markers along the entire 5 mile route. Very shortly, like this evening or tomorrow huge water trucks will start "laying down Ice".


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## Lyndon

Here they are already building a "Lay-Down-Yard" to store materials and equipment. It will be several acres of ice.


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## Lyndon

Many years ago I used to drive one of these Crane Trucks pulling a 46 foot trailer that was my electricians shop.


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## Lyndon

Here some of my electricians are trenching in a new power cable. this requires a Hot Water truck and a 'VAC' truck, normally reffered to as a: "SUPER SUCKER".  one guy blows hot water into the ground while the other vacumes up the debris. It's nasty work, real noisy and wet!


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## Lyndon

Here's My camp, with 'Flags Flying', U.S., Alaska, BP.

In answer to Pixies Question: Yes, I generally get the same room. It's a double occupancy room that has built in cabinets and beds, it's own phone and Sattellite cabe TV. The Camp is rigged for WIFI, so lots of the workers have wireless laptops. My computer in my office is Hi Speed fiber-Optic. 
I wish I could post pictures of the Process areas, but taking pictures there is a big hassel. Amazingly the areas of the plant where we process the oil are as clean as a hospital! All Painted up and well lit even the air is good. But there are these multi-million dollar fire protection/Detection/Supperssion systems that don't respond well to flash cameras. This can shut down a facility and dump millions of dollars worth of firefighting foam. The Detection systems incorperate Heat Detectors, Smoke Detectors, 5 kinds of Gas Detectors, and Infra Red and Ultra Violet camera type detectors. It's the "UV's" (Ultro-Violet) that don't like cameras. Understandably the Operators are 'Nervious' about picture taking. Some operators will let you take pictures, but they have to first Defeat or Bypass the UV Detectors. Considering that we process some 30,000 barrells of oil and some additional millions of cubic feet of Gas a day, we don't like running with the fire system bypassed. I was a Fire & Gas Tech for some years here on the "Slope".


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## pixie

Are there common rooms in the different kinds of camps ? 

That trenching sounds messy. The workers must get a coating of ice on them !!

Nice picture with the flags !


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## Lyndon

All Camps have a Chow hall, almost every camp has a Pool Hall, and seperate TV Rooms for the Smokers and Non Smokers. The larger camps have Rooms with fitness equipment, we have one of these with exercise machines, and another with Weight machines. We also have a Gym, where there are nightly basketball games, and sometimes volley ball. At the bigger camps they have more of the same. One camp has 2 Gyms, an Olympic size Pool, a full sized Theatre, and a large glass Atrium full of plants that is several stories tall.


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## Lyndon

Longest day: 63 days,23 Hrs, 40 mins.
Shortest day: 1 Hr. 3 Mins.
Maximum record temp: 83 F
Mimimum temp Minus 62 F
Highest Wind speed 109 MPH
Official lowest temp With Wind chill -135.


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## Lyndon

Because we work 12 hours a day, 7 days a week, you don't find people up much past about 9 PM. The Pool hall and Gym are vacant! TV Rooms silent! Only the 2nd shift guy's and the cooks. they serve a meal for the second shift guys at midnight.


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## pixie

What do they do to keep the air in the camps fresh ?

Even in the winter I open a window a little at night but that's probably not a good idea when it's that cold....


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## mtmogs

Fantastic stuff Lyndon. Thanks much for posting. Despite being in the oil biz myself, I am always amazed that, considering the costs of equipment, personnel, refining and marketing, a gallon of gas at the pump costs less than a gallon of milk!


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## EastTexFrank

Great pictures Lyndon.  I never worked the North Slope although I had lots of friends who did for BP in the early days.  Those pictures started me thinking about some of the stories that they used to tell.  It must have been "fun" back then when the derricks were made of wood and it was the men who were made of steel.  Keep 'em coming.


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## Ice Queen

What a fascinating post, please continue.  I have been watching the second series of Ice Road Truckers on the television in the UK, I find it very interesting, but much as I love trucks, I wouldn't want to do it - I'd be too scared.  Incidentally, oil derivatives are very expensive in the UK, I was surprised how much cheaper petrol (gas, I think you call it) was in America.  Along with some of your lovely snow, can you send me some cheaper fuel?!


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## J5 Bombardier

Great pics!  Keep them coming !
                           Thanks   J5 Bombardier


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## Lyndon

Good Mornig. Day 3. -33 F Ambient, -45 with the 'windchill' factored in. I started work at 5:30 as usual, attended a staff organizational meeting, then a safety meeting at 6:00. These pictures I took much later, at 9:30 and as you can see it's still rather dark out. The first picture is of the "Bull Rail" a place where we park and plug-in the vehicles. Things like the Box Trucks, and Welding Trucks have 2 Plug-in's, one for the auxilery equipment such as a Generator Welder , and one for the trucks engine. The pic's not too good, but you can see the cords haging down.

This next one is of the Processing facility. In this module are some great big gas compressors that look like a gigantic VW, 4 Cylinder, only the "Jug's" are 2 feet in diameter, they are driven by 3000 HP electric motors that run at 4160 Volts and are "water-cooled".


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## Lyndon

This is more of the processing facility.


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## Lyndon

There is a significant difference between the Ice road complex in Canada and the one here in alaska. There's is far more dangerous! This is because 1) they run on Ice that is on deep lakes, and 2) they are not anywhere near as far north as we are.


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## Lyndon

The Ice Road complex in Canada runs up to the Arctic circle, where as the alaska oilfields are 300 miles North of the Arctic circle. Here the ground and bottoms of lakes and Ocean floor are Perma-frost. Most of the places the lakes here freeze solid so that there is Ice, resting on perma-frost, or more ice. Not much chance of going thru here. In fact it has only happened twice in the 15 years I have worked up here.


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## Lyndon

This also results in a much longer season and the ability to move MUCH heavier laods. Maximum loads on the canadian Ice roads are 200 to 300,000 Pounds. Up here we routinely move 1.5 to 3 Million pound loads, almost on a daily basis.


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## Lyndon

We have about 35 of these mobile drill rigs that weigh in between 1.5 and 3 million pounds that are constantly on the move.


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## Lyndon

As with our Land Ice Roads, our Sea Ice Roads sit on Perma-frost, and the Ocean is very shallow. When we built several new facilities, we trucked modules that weighed 8000 Tons, thats right, 16 Million pounds, across the frozen ocean, without a hitch.


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## Lyndon

Also something that was depicted on the Ice Road Truckers show was having freeze-up's and cold weather problems with the vehicles. Even though it's as cold and often colder here, we have very limited problems of this nature. That's probably because we have been doing it for 35 years, and a lot more of it. If you add up all the people working in the Canadian Arctic, and all the people working on the Antarctic at Scott base, and McMurdo, it's about 500 to a thousnd people. During the height of construction in Prudhoe there were 35,000 workers, and even today thats a respectable 3000 to 5000 personel. Something about "Practice Makes Perfect".


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## darroll

Very interesting and great pictures.
Thanks,


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## Lyndon

When we were building Bedalmi, I drove 22 miles each way, twice a day to and from the site over Sea Ice the entire way. In a month that's 1200 miles.
Likewise while building Alpine, another oil development site up here, we rode in a trailways/greyhound type tour busses, 26 miles over Sea Ice, 7 days a week. In all I have probably 2000 miles on Sea Ice and another 5000 miles on Land Ice roads, sometimes pulling a 46 foot box trailer with no brakes! Do you suppose tha qualifies me as a Ice Road Trucker? Since there is little danger I doubt we'll get our own show. 

Alpine. Oil development site, no road system serves this site. Everything either comes in by air or over an Ice Road.


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## Lyndon

Everything of any major size came to this site, Alpine over the Sea Ice Road.
There is a full airstrip there too. It's in the left hand corner, top.


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## EastTexFrank

Lyndon, I can understand plugging in the truck and the welder/generator but what about the tires?  A friend who worked up there said that the rubber in the tires got so hard because of the cold that flat spots were frozen in the tires where they rested on the ground overnight.  He said that driving first thing in the morning was really rough until the tires warmed up enough for the flat spots to work their way out.  Or was that just another oilfield story?   

Also, do have a picture of an abandoned drilling site?  I'd be interested to see what they look like once they have been reclaimed and returned to their original condition.  It might help set the anti-drilling people's mind at ease too.


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## Lyndon

EastTexFrank: We've found that a few specific makes of tires hold up in the extreem cold. One in particular is a japanese tire that has more oil and synthetics in the rubber. 
The Above mentioned site, Alpine, and this site, Badami, are both artificial Islands, on the land. Each have an Airstrip, and during construction, had as many as 3 Ice roads, one on the land for personel and equipment, one on the land for building the pipeline, and one on the ocean for heavy stuff. Once the facility is completed they don't build an Ice road every year, only when they need to move a Rig. Rolligons, riding directly on the snow carry pipe and drilling supplies out in the winter. The personel and parishables like food, go by air. 

The little road leads about a mile away to the Airstrip.


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## Lyndon

From this mornings posts # 33, & #34: Here's the same pictures at noon, just 2-1/2 hours later:


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## Lyndon

Ice Pad under construction:

Tanker on lake pumping water for Ice Road Construction.


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## Lyndon

Nabors mobil drill Rig on "L" Pad.


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## Lyndon

Milne covrs 94 Square miles, and is the second most northern point in Alaska. Barrow, 35 miles to the West is the fartherst north point in Alaska. This is Doyan's Rig #14. Here it's working at "F" pad. F-pad sticks out in the ocean, and is surrounded on 3 sides by the Beaufort Sea(Arctic Ocean). This is the spot Polars Bears like!


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## Lyndon

On Milne Points 94 sq. Mi. lease there are 14 Drill sites, the have from 10 to 80 wells. 

The Rig, with it's derrick folded down is 57 Feet High, and 51 Feet Wide.


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## Lyndon

EastTexFrank: They require the leese holders, BP, Arco, Phillips, Conoco, Mobile, Exxon, Marathon, Shell and the State of Alaska to deposit a sizeable "Contingency Fund" for every development site. This money sits in a bank gaining interest for how ever long they work the site. Then they remediate the site. Only after it's done does the respective lease holder get their money back, which at this point is often 3 to 5 time as much as the remediation costs. If one were to fail to clean up a site adaquately, the state would use the money to do it. >
I worked with: BLM/NFS/NPS/NWS/DEP/DEC/EPA/AK Dept of Labor/Federal Dep of Labor/Ak Dept of Transportation/Federal Dept of Transportation/FBI/CIA and I've forgotten the other 4 agencies (17 total) that make up the JPO or Joint Pipeline Office. This conglomeration of 17 agencies has the final "SAY" on such matters. Of the 40 construction camps along the Pipeline corridor, most have been so well remediated that you can not find them. They took away the camps, the gravel pad, the access road, reseeded with the correct mix of Tundra Seed, and left no old 50 gallon barrels or rebar or anything! I had to take pictures and some 60 year old guy that had actually been there, just to find the spot! They did one hell of a good job.


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## Lyndon

This is Galbraith Lake , where there was a construction camp and an air field.


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## Lyndon

This is the Camp that WAS there: It's gone, but the airfield is still maintained. 

I Inspected at this site extensively.


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## Lyndon

This is Isabel Pass Construction Camp, where I had to take the Old guy and Pictures just to find where it had been. This was a 2300 Man Camp. There isn't the slightest sign that it ever existed. Not all sites have been this thuroughly remediated,... Yet.


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## Melensdad

Lyndon said:


> This is Galbraith Lake , *where there was a* construction camp and an air field.



Lyndon, are these camps inside wildlife preserves or parks?  Why do they have to be completely removed and the land restored?


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## EastTexFrank

Great photos Lyndon.  Some of the people who jump up and down about destroying the wilderness should see them.  If it's done properly and handled correctly, the effect on the environment can be absolutely *ZERO*.  People need to understand that.  Oil companies in general do a lousy job of PR.  

Keep them coming bro'.  I'm enjoying the heck out of this thread.  I've been fully retired for about 5 years now but I still kinda miss it.  It gets in your blood.


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## Lyndon

The 800 mile Trans Alaska Pipeline passes thru: State Forest, National Forest, National Park, BLM, and Native Owned lands. The preserving of the land was a term set back when it was constructed. No other Oil & gas operation is under as much scrutiny. As a consequence of this the "Players" put on the best 'show' up here. Most other Petrochemical operations worldwide are  no where near as pristene and sanitary. This is according to the actual Oil workers that have worked worldwide, who have also worked here, French, German, Brittish, Scandinavian, as well as the Texan's and "Oakies". 

This is where "SERVICE CITY" a big Camp, air Strip and construction complex used to sit. We even hauled away the gravel from the runway a few years ago and it became the runway at Alpine.


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## Lyndon

Well, day three is almost over. Had a beautiful sunset at 3:20 PM. It's -35 and PERFECT for building Ice Roads!


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## mattfidaho

wow that really is cool


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## Ice Queen

Really enjoying this post, thank you, but where's my snow?


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## Lyndon

Good Morning, and it's Day 4. At Milne it's -37, -59 with the wind chill, but over at Prudhoe it's showing -40, -60 with the windchill. At minus40 various of our outdoor activities cease, like trenching and crane work. Outside exposure is limited to 10 minute streches. It will be interesting to see how well the camera reacts to the low temperature. Ice road construction will be going ahead full speed. Our fuel truck broke down and with (31) 2 Million BTU portable Heaters, 15 Generator Light Towers, half a dozen Welder Generator sets, 45 Pick-up trucks, 2 Graders, 3 Loaders, several cranes..... we will have to be conserving fuel until the fueler is repaired. The New 6000 Gallon fuel truck is operated around the clock, (24 hrs), by 2 operators and will generally dispense about 8 to 12 thousand gallons of diesel per 24 hour period.


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## Kwiens

Lyndon,

WOW!!  Thanks for the pictures and the narative.  I'm enjoying your updates and thankful it's 70 degrees in Kansas!

K


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## Lyndon

Ice Queen said:


> Really enjoying this post, thank you, but where's my snow?



"Where's the Snow"? How much do you want?


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## Lyndon

We have A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,J,K,L,S,T, AND CFP PADS. Each covers between 5 and 20 Acres. There are also some 30 miles of gravel roads. After a "Blow" it takes 3 Laoders, 2 Caterpillar D7's, 2 Cat Graders, 2 Loader mounted Snow Blowers 2 to 3 days to dig us out, working 24/7.


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## Lyndon

The snow piles are so big that they actually increase the area of the Pad by several Acres.


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## Lyndon

AND there is a bunch of areas that have to be Hand shoveled. Some just don't get done.


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## Lyndon

Earlier this morning I mentioned that we are having a problem with our fuel truck. This is one of the 31 Trailer mounted portable 1Million BTU Heaters we have in service. Thay have a 3 or 4 cylinder diesel engine/generator that powers the Oil Burner/Cumbustion Fan/ and Air Blower, and guzzle down about 100 Gallons of fuel every 24 hours.

Just keeping them fueled up and running is a challenge. They have a 16 inch diameter flexible hoses. If a truck won't start, you drag one of these over to it, toss a parachute over it and let it warm up for an hour or two. If a line freezes up, same thing. If you are going to have to do some involved tedious job, like say the electrical connections on a transformer, the carpenters build a wood and plastic temporary structure around the work area, then plug one of these into it and go to work.


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## Lyndon

While I'm waiting for the Fueler to be fixed I'll give you a little run down on Arctic Vehicle Heat Systems: All the mobile equipment and vehicles up here have elaborate auxilery heat systems. Many diesels come from the manufacturer with some small auxilery heaters, but this is a step above that. An "Arctic-Pack", full arcitc protection system consists of: A substaintial water jacket heater, of 1000W or more:


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## Lyndon

A set of these Glued in place heaters to heat the engine Oil Pan, Transfer Case, and Transmission.


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## Lyndon

since most of the Diesels have Dual batteries there are a pair of these Battery Warmer Blankets;


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## Lyndon

And finally one of these ON-board-battery Chargers.


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## Lyndon

Thats kind of the Minimum Requirement and amounts to 7 or 8, 120 Volt Plug-ins. Bigger equipment may also have additional Heat Tape on the Hydrolic Lines. This is special Explosion Proof, Stainless Steel Braid stuff that is real spendy. Also there can be heaters on the differentials and I have heard of Wheel Hub heaters on the big Trac rigs, but couldn't find any pictures. 

My 35 electricians Install literally Miles of this stuff. It's one of the main things I inspect and witness testing of. We use it to keep Oil and Water injection lines from freezing.


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## Lyndon

All these heaters amount to a significant laod. Each Cord Drop, a hanging cord has it's own seperate 20 Amp circuit. when you unplug one you get a respectable spark out of it indicating that there is quite a load. The Cord, a special Arctic Rated cord, has Lighted ends to tell you that it's ON and Working. 



This Last Picture is of one of 3 new "Bullrails" we just installed last month so that we don't have to leave so many trucks running all night.


When it's windy one of these cords can knock you up side the head pretty good!


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## Neil

Dear Professor Strother;

I would like to say what wonderful job you are doing, generously educating all the snow machine folks about your life and experiences as an electrical engineering supervisor in the Arctic.  These snow machines that we all share such an affection for are among the tools of the trade that allow folks like you to help the USA maintain some semblance of energy independence.  

Although I have followed your adventures for some 40+ years now, it never ceases to amaze me how much I have learned from you and continue to learn from you.  You are truly one of a kind, blessed with expertise and skills that no university program could ever instill in even the most motivated student.   I know that many in this forum stand in similar awe.  I know that Wayman is standing very proud of who you are.

Be well,

- Neil
ex-St-4 co-owner


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## Lyndon

Detail of the cord Drops: 



Day 4 is almost over. It has warmed up substaintially to -29, and the Fuel truck is fixed!


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## Lyndon

Greetings Neil: There's only a couple of people here on the 'Slope' that call me 'Professor'. However, two different groups, one at Ft. Lewis in Washington, and the guy's at Pump 6 and Pump 10 on the Trans Alaska Pipeline often called me "LYNDONSTEIN". It probably derrived from an Einstein 'T' shirt I used to wear that had a picture of Einstein on it and the Quote: "186,000 Miles per Second, NOT JUST A GOOD IDEA, IT'S THE LAW!" I'm kind of thinking that maybe YOU gave me that shirt!


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## Ice Queen

Any snow you can spare will be most welcome - well by me, anyway, I can't speak for my neighbours!


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## snowbird

I'd also like some of it.  Apparently you have lots to spare.

And I thought it was pretty nifty plugging in a heater inserted in the water jacket of my diesel farm tractor plus dumping anit-gell compound into the fuel tank.  Sometimes I even left a trickle charge on the two batteries.  That was kid stuff compared to your efforts in the frigid north.  Thanks for sharing.


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## Lyndon

Good Morning, it's Day 5. The talk of the Camp is the up coming "Game". It's -28 with at 12 MPH Wind, -44 windchill. This has to be one of the only places on earth that people get PAID to watch the Superbowl. The "chief's", or bosses, will let everone off, around 2:15 (6:15 East Coast time) and there will be all kinds of "Treats" put up by the cooks. We have a dozen Big Screen TV's. Because Sunday is an Overtime day, all day, a person will earn between 150 and 400 $ while the game plays out. One of the 'Perks' of working on what resembles a Space Station, or the Moon. I head out to witness a test at a location that may become inaccessable for a bit because of a Rig Move today. We'll see how the camera does. How many of you will be out Snow-cattin--vs-Watching the game today?


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## Neil

Lyndon,

My sister wants to know what sort of camera you are using that can work OK in such rugged conditions.

- Neil
ex-ST4 co-owner


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## Lyndon

Day 6, Was real busy yesterday so I didn't get to watch the game or make much for pictures. It's -28, 15MPH winds, -50 with the windchill. The Camera I'm using is a Cannon, that is actually the companies. In the course of all the inspection work we do we find it useful to document stuff by photograph. We have no less than 5 full time Inspectors on staff at any given time, an E & I (electrical & instrumentation) QC(That's Me!), and E & I QA, a Mechanical QA, and 2 Mechanical QC's. In addition there are a gang of Ex-Ray technicians, and a full staff of document control personel. There are also 5 full time safety inspectors. The Fuel truck finally got fixed!


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## pixie

Glad to hear the fuel truck is fixed.

There must be a garage to fix stuff in ??


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## Lyndon

*Re: 21 Days North of the Arctic Circle,*

*Tour of the "PADS"*
There are about 15 Work sites at Milne, Pads A Thru L, S,,T, "Pig" and CFP. 
This is A-Pad. It's a busy place. There are shops for fixing equipment, for the Welders, the Electricians, the Scaffold builders, the Insulators and some other trades. It is also a primary storage place for materials.


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## Lyndon

D- Pad was a "Bust" oil wise, so now it is just a junk yard and the insulators have a shop there to fabricate special Blankets to insulate big valves and there is a Fire Training facility there. 



This Fire training complex gets set on fire with diesel fuel pumped in, in underground pipes, then they practice putting out the fire and evacuating dummies. This site gets pretty serious when they stage a practice. 40 foot flames that can be seen for miles. For a Fireman this is quite close to the "Real Thing", and can be quite hazardous.


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## Lyndon

This is B-Pad, a working, producing Pad.


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## mattfidaho

The fire training is cool. we always trained in a metal shipping crate like that in flash over training... they can be built into almost anything.


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## Lyndon

This is C-Pad, also a working, producing pad. A "rig' is scheduled to go on one of the wells this afternoon and it's getting pretty busy here.


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## Lyndon

At C-Pad there are a pair of Injection compressors: One is a giant Locomotive Engine driving a giant compressor. Unfortunately there was UV Fire Detection systems here so I couldn't get any picts of the inside. Next to the building with the huge radiator is a second compressor, but driven by a gas turbine. 

That's a pretty good sized radiator!


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## Lyndon

I was at C-Pad to witness the 'Hypot'(High Potential) test of a cable. This 5 KV (Kilovolt) cable will be energized to 20,000 Volts for a duration of about 45 minutes and all the data recorded. 



The Operator of this pad was a bit nervious about me taking pictures as there are fire protective systems all over the pace.


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## Lyndon

Here is E-Pad which sit's right across from the CFP. Central Processing Facilities is where the processing equipment and the Camp sit.



The 2 smoke stacks in the background are Oil Heaters that heat up the oil so that it is easier to pump around.


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## Lyndon

CFP is the "MAIN" Facility.


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## Lyndon

The Fire house and the entrance to My Office. Needs a little show shoveled. I'm suprised that Safety hasn't come around and scolded me for not clearing it out better!



We just cruised A,B,C,D,E pads, and CFP. The rest are yet to come.


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## Lyndon

That's all for Day  6. All of Today's pictures were "live" that is taken today. But we still have about 9 more sites to go to and there's still the Ice road being built and the upcoming pipeline project. Have a nice evening.


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## MNoutdoors RIP

What happens when the polar bear gets to close............Polar Bear Attack in the High Arctic

This is from up in the NWT, this chap is lucky to be alive. The guy survived the bear attack. The bear jumped on him while he was sleeping in his tent and he managed to get it off of him and shoot it 

One tough camper!


This is unbelievable.  It hurts just to look at it.


This is call a see-through foot.  Polar bears are the top predator in the North American continent. 


KINDA MAKES YA WANT TO STAY AT HOME AND HIDE UNDER THE BED, EH?


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## Mainer

ABSOLUTELY UNBELIEVABLE.
THE FOOT...UGH.
AMAZING.

How did he get out of the camp to civilization?  

Pack a 44 Mag, a FindMeSpot, Hunting Knife, and a Grenade.

Whew!  One bad-ass dude.


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## Lyndon

Good Morning, Day 7, only 2 weeks left 'till "R&R"! it's -35 and NO Wind. 
We get very little for "BEAR PROBLEMS" here. 1) we don't live in tents, 2) about a third of both the Polar Bears and more than half the Grizzley's are tagged with radio collars. Usually some guy from DNR (Dept oof Nat. Resources) or NWS(National Wildlife Service) shows up in a Suburban with some funny looking antenna's _*BEFORE*_ the Bear does and tips off security. Almost all the rest are spotted visually by the huge mass of workers up here. They get a leisurly escort from area to area by security. Bears, both types are real 'travelers' often covering 50 miles a day. We do have some Resident Brown Bears (Grizzly's) that hybornate in the winter and wander around in the Nice part of the year. They are all tagged, and we know where they all live. There's not much for places for a Bear to hide what with there being no trees. Since everybody knows where they hybornate, you find yourself making up excuses to be in their area in the spring in hopes of getting a glimpse of them. Feeding the wildlife is grounds for imediate termination. They pretty much keep to themselves. The locations that get Polar Bears most frequently are right along the coast which are Endicott, North Star Island, Point Macintire, both Sea Water Treatment Plants, and Here, at MIlne Point. They rarely if ever wander inland. The caribou seem to sense that it is "safe" here(No hunting allowed on the 1000 to 1500 Square Mile Prudhoe Bay Oil Lease). We have a heard of about Half a Million that pass thru 2 times a year and another heard of about 100,000 that also passes thru twice a year. They wander right up under the camp to get away from the mosquetoes and pretty much ignore us. If a polar bear does pass thru and you stop work to go take pictures that is also grounds for termination so we don't really see that much of them.


----------



## Lyndon

It's pretty close to -40 right now. One of the sort of 'right's of passage' when one starts working on the North Slope is to experience throwing a cup of coffey or water up when it's below about 30 below. If one tosses a cup of cold water up in the air it does roughly the same thing that it would in the Lower 48 at normal temperatures, go splat on the ground. But if one uses hot water or coffee, it freezes within a foot of your hand and blows away as a cloud. Photographing it with a still camera is difficult, not so hard with a movie camera or video cam. I scrounged this picture eslewhere off the net.


----------



## Lyndon

*MORE TOUR OF THE PADS*
This is F-Pad, with Doyan Rig 14 working on it. This is the pad surrounded by the ocean on 3 sides where polar bears show up regularly.

It has over 90 wells.


----------



## Lyndon

Pads G,H,I, & J are all jointly reffered to as "Track 14". These are the 4 pads that the New Pipeline will serve. These are 2 shots of G-pad.


----------



## Lyndon

H-Pad


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## Lyndon

This is 'I' Pad. The Track 14 pads are all very similar. 

"J-Pad"


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## Lyndon

This is a Water Tanker "Laying down Ice", constructing the Ice Roads that will enable the workers to build the Above Ground pipeline on the Tundra. Tomorrow they will start booring holes and setting the VSM's which stands for Verticle Support Members. These they will freeze into the Perma-frost with a slurry of sand and water. 



The water freezes as it hits the ground and on ocassion I have followed behind one of these while it was spraying water and even though I was only 50 feet behind, by the time I got there it was frozen and my tires didn't even get wet!


----------



## Lyndon

One of several Snow Blowers we have. They carry their own engine and esentially 'Clip' on the the front of a 988 Cat Loader. We have had workers drive into these while operating. It really messes up the truck! We've had about one of these accidents a year. No fatalaties, except for the truck.


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## Lyndon

An OilField Truck with tandem Steering tires. Called a "Roll-Back" it has a big winch and literally drags the load up on to the deck across a massive roller on the rear. this one is rated around 250 Ton, or 500,000 Lb. carring capacity. a little over what 2 1/2 tractor trailers would normally carry. Needless to say there are no weight restrictions on the roads up here. In fact there isn't even a Scale house within 500 miles, that being in Fairbanks.


----------



## Lyndon

This will probably be the last picture for today, these are my electricians trenching in a new High Voltage Underground Cable. It's getting dark and I have to run out to preform another inspection.


----------



## Lyndon

Hi: Day 8: -39, -48 with the wind chill. Yesterday, contrary to my last posting, I had to go out and do an inspection and managed to get some picts.
A Roll-Back was loading a big tank.


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## Lyndon

I asked the operator, and this "Older" truck was only rated 160 Ton, or 320,000 Lbs. State and Federal laws usually limit trucks to between 80,000 and 120,000 on the highway systems in the lower 48. Anything more than that requires a special Heavy Load Permit and lots of extra axels.


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## Lyndon

This Tank is built into a "Containment" so that it will contain any possible leaks. It probally weighs around 150,000 lbs, or half the trucks capacity. It was impressive in that the truck operator loaded this by himself in about 15 minutes, and was on his way without anyone helping him.


----------



## Lyndon

Trenching Operations:


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## Lyndon

My Electricians installing Heat trace on some Oil Production Lines in the warmth of a "Hooch", the slang/trade name for a temporary shelter. 

This is all stuff from yesterday and I have 3 meetings to attend that will keep me pretty busy today. It remains to be seen when I can get back to the FF.


----------



## Lyndon

Boy, -39 is cold! When I went out to start up my truck the seat was as hard as a Concrete Park Bench. An Hour later it was still below freezing in the cab. It took an additional hour of driving it for the steering wheel to warm up enough that you didn't need gloves. >
This is "Pig-Pad" where 2 pipelines meet, and there are Pig Recievers and Pig Launchers here.


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## Lyndon

K-pad.


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## Lyndon

This is "L-Pad". The Rig has just left and all the construction people are busy hooking the well that was just serviced back up.


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## Lyndon

This is the "Waterfall" at L-Pad. That's what they call one of these bridges for Pipes and Wiring for the Oil, Water, Gas, Power, Instrumentation, and Controls to go across the road so that large service vehicles can access the pad.


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## Lyndon

And This is what it's all about. This well is the single most productive well at Milne Pt. It produces about 5000 Barrells a day, more than 20,000 equivalent gallons of OIl and Gasoline. This single well could provide all the fuel for all the members of the Fourm's Snow Cat's, Trucks, to light and power their homes, as well as all the spin-off plastic products and synthetics. That even includes Ice Queens fuel hungry military vehicle collection and Pixie's J5!


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## Melensdad

Are all these things TEMPORARY structures and pipes and such or is it just the buildings that they move in and out, and the wells and things stay in place?


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## Lyndon

The last picture was of a "Well-House" that encloses the well and it's associated Power, controls, and instrumentation. There are several different types of wells:1) Producers that depend on the oil field being pressurized that Push the oil up to the surface.2) "WAG's", which is short for Water And Gas injection, that are well that Inject Water and/or Gas to keep the field pressurized, and 3) & 4) two types of wells that are dependant on some type of pump. The Electric ones, have a Deep-well submersable pump that range between 100 and 800 HP. These Submersable pumps are only about 8" in diameter and can be as long as 55 Feet. They operate at several thousand volts and may have some super haevi duty metal encased Heat Tape running a couple thousand feet down the well that heats the oil up to reduce it's viscosity. The other variety has high pressure water going down the well that powers a "JET" pump, the exhausted water being injected into the formation at a lower lever, then the water powered pump pushes the oil from a higher level back up. It's a sort of 'Pipe inside a Pipe' araingement. As Oil floats on water, one can essentially "float" the oil back up and out, while displacing it. The water usually comes from one of two STP's or Sea Water Treatment Plant's. These take sea water and completely distill it. It is normal to find water in with the oil in any formation, even one that has not been drilled previously. In order not to contaminate the formation, the water being processed out of the oil is analyzed, and the water being injected has all the minerals and chemicals added to it make it JUST LIKE THE WATER THEY WERE GETTING OUT.>
The Well houses sit on big 12 by 12 timbers and get lifted off by a small crane so that a Drill Rig can back on to the well and service it. Inside the well house are: Lights, a special 'Explosion Proof' Heater, guages, instuments, and some elaborate valves. Some of the valves are electric, some are Hydrolic powered. All the wiring and associated controls and instruments are Explosion Proof. Everything that is hapening at the well can be controlled and monitored from the control room at MPU. Wells often read up to 3000PSI on some of the guages. This would not be a good place to "Light-up". At some of the more remote sites, periodically the Opertors found Natives on Snow Mobiles sitting inside a well house smoking! Not a good idea when there might be 3000 PSI of Natural gas passing thru 4 inch pipes.


----------



## Lyndon

Everything is permanent except the Well House. The one, two, or three "laterals"( pipes connecting the well to the main header) have "Double Block & Bleed" valves and a removable segment connecting to the well. One Lateral is the Production Lateral and is Crude oil out of the well to the Production Header. the Second lateral is the "TEST" lateral and is also Crude Out to the TEST Header, and the third pipe is Water IN for Injection wells. The Christmas Tree is what is on top of the well, and is a bunch of very high pressure valves stacked on on top of the other. I'll try and get a series of pictures of this.


----------



## Ice Queen

Right, that sounds good to me, re the fuel, can you arrange to send it, please?   ...........plus snow!


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## Lyndon

Here's a "Christmas Tree", this one's 'Out-of-Service'.


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## Lyndon

Inside a Well House: The Hydrolic "Shut-Down" panel and some instruments. This is a working well.


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## Lyndon

My "Sparkies" doing a "Well Re-Connect". Thank god for Arctic Hard Hat Liner's! At 40 below you need all the help you can get.


----------



## Lyndon

Lats pic for today, One of the local Residents. 



An Arctic Fox is actually smaller than a domesticated cat. They have a lot of fur. In the summer they are brown and black and look more like Arctic Rats.


----------



## pixie

Very interesting 

The fox is cute. I didn't realize they were so small. Any other scavengers ?


----------



## Lyndon

Our "Regular residents" include: Brown Bear(Grizzley), Polar Bears, Arctic Fox, Red Fox, Silver Fox, Ermine, Parker Squirrels, Musk Ox, Wolverine, Arctic Ravens, King Eider Ducks, Canadian geese, Swans, and Caribou. The biggest numbers are of Caribou, and several species of water fowl. All are protected on the Prudhoe Bay Oilfield. 

Parker Squirell


Arctic Raven


Arctic Fox


Ermine


----------



## Lyndon

Griz


King Eider duck


Musk OX


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## EastTexFrank

Lyndon, this has been a marvelous thread.  I'll almost be sorry when you head home for R&R.  I bet you won't be though.

When you see the sheer scale of the operation those who have little knowledge of the oil business can get a handle on why exploring and producing the black stuff is so darned expensive.  

You said that the largest producer at Milne Point puts out about 5000 bbl/day.  I somehow always figured them to bigger producers than that, not that it's to be sneezed at.  I'd love to have it in my backyard.    About how much is the whole field producing at present and from how many wells.  An approximation will do.  It's just professional interest.  

Again, thanks for the thread and photos.  I love it.


----------



## Lyndon

Swans


Canadian Geese & Swans


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## Lyndon

Caribou

Wolverine


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## Lyndon

pixie said:


> Very interesting
> 
> The fox is cute. I didn't realize they were so small. Any other scavengers ?



This last guy definately rates a scavenger, and is know to take prey away from full grown Bears. It's name in the native language means:"Ravenous Appetite" and I have seen a giant one up around Pump 2, almost 5 foot tall when it stood on it's hind legs with beautiful fur, and paws as big as a Bear's.


----------



## Lyndon

EastTexFrank: I slid right by your posting, sorry. Milne has about 200 wells, and generally produces around 35,000 BBl's a day. It's enough to "Pay the Rent". When the price is at or above 100$@BBl that's 3.5 Mil. per day. Sure, I'd settle for one day's production! Old Rocking Horse type(Walking-Beam) wells like you have in East Texas and elsewhere, are generally reffered to as "Stripper Wells" and a good one might produce 500 BBl a day. We have a few 100,000 BBl a day wells in other Prudhoe fields, but running them at that rate wears out the pipe fairly quickly and then it has to be replaced.


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## cabinboy

Lyndon this is a really good thread !!!!! I am just amazed at all of the information and great pictures you are showing us here. I am looking forward to the next posting. The cold weather sure does make everything a major challange. Thanks


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## Lyndon

I'm just completing my 19th week of some rather serious Chemo therapy. It's a 24 week duration and it tends to make me feel lously. Generating this thread has helped keep my mind off the pain. As an Inspector I get to see and work on almost every aspect of production and transportation. I enjoy sharing it with others. The years that I worked on the Trans Alaska Pipeline when ever a New guy showed up the crew would say:"Go get Lyndon to show you, he know's everything" and I informally acted as 'tour guide' for various visiting Engineer's and Dignitaries. Generally, since I held all the proper security and Safety certifications the Operators would let me tour them around even though the visitors did not have all the proper certifications. Normally in the petro chemical business one does not go anywhere or do anything without 1) a Permit, and 2) the proper PPE(Personel Protective Equipment) and 3) permission from the Operators. All prerequsites that I HAVE to have in order to preform my job.


----------



## pezman

Lyndon, I'm sorry to about your chemo. I really hope everythings ok. I enjoy your post tremendously.  My thoughts and prayers go with you.


----------



## darroll

Mine too.


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## cabinboy

Lyndon , I am sorry about the health problems you are going through right now . I wish you well in the fight with these problems.  GOOD LUCK  My Friend !!!


----------



## mtmogs

Hang in there Lyndon! I'm really enjoying this thread. The fact that it's therapy for you makes it that much better. With your positive attitude you'll be %100 before you know it.


----------



## EastTexFrank

Add my best wishes to those above.  If it's helping you, it's helping me.  I miss the oilfield ... just not enough to go back and do it.


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## mtmogs

EastTexFrank said:


> When you see the sheer scale of the operation those who have little knowledge of the oil business can get a handle on why exploring and producing the black stuff is so darned expensive.



I'm with you there Frank. And all along the way, many good men and women are paid decent salaries and wages. Even after all that, gasoline is still cheaper than milk!


----------



## Lyndon

Day 9: -22, it's warmed up noticably. Thanks for all the words of encouragement. Not feeling that bad today, and I only have a few more weeks to go. I have a lot of work to deal with today so I don't know how much extra-cricular photography I'll get to do. 
This picture is of a 500 Ton, or 1,000,000,000 Lb truck and trailer. We have about 8 of these working up here on the "Slope". It's actually (2) Twelve Foot Wide trailers, each rated 250 tons, each with 32 tires(4 rows, 8 tires across).


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## Lyndon

The 2 trailers are joined by a special adapter that allows the 2 trailers to be pulled by one truck tractor. The giant ramp on the bed is one of 2 for loading a 1000 ton crane. The ramps are close to 40 Feet long and generally have to be hauled on a "Roll-Back" like the one loading the tank in previous pictures. This picture also shows a reasonably good view of the "Rear's" of the SOW (oilfield slang name for this type of tractor)that pulls this trailer. The Axels are Planitary like on big 966 & 988 Cat Laoders.


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## Lyndon

This is the SOW, and the other ramp. The SOW has a monster engine, 3 transmissions, an extra big 'Fith Wheel' plate with a 6 inch pin, is a full 12 Feet Wide, and is rated for the 1 Million pounds. It is not that uncommon to meet one of these 12 foot wides, pulling a 24 foot wide trailer with a Load on the trailer that hangs 15 foot off each side giving a total width of 54 Feet. Usually HE get's the Right-of-Way!

One Million Pounds on 74 tires. You Canadian Ice Road Truckers Check This Out!


----------



## Lyndon

When you move things that are this big as one piece, you need bigger 'Toys' to handel them. These Modules, manufactured in the lower 48, and designed to just squeek thru the Panama Canel, were Barged up to Prudhoe, then set on the land. Then, several months later, after everything freezes up good, they are trucked to their permanent locations. One of these Weighs in at a hefty 8000 Tons, or 16 Million Lbs.


----------



## Ice Queen

I am so sorry to hear about your health problems, I hope all goes well for you, my thoughts are with you.  Fabulous thread.  What sort of tractor unit pulls those trailers?


----------



## pixie

My thoughts are with you, also, Lyndon .

The 12 foot wide truck says "Mack" on the hood. Do you know what kind of engine it has or how many HP ?

How do they move something that weighs 8000 tons ? Is there an even BIGGER truck ??


----------



## Lyndon

There are actuall 3 methods: These Dolly's are each rated for 50 Ton and have a 50 ton hydraulic jack sticking out the top. all the jacks are hooked up to a leveling unit that keeps equal weight on each dolly. One of my employers had a set of 10 of these and we could move 500 ton sections of a Man camp with out dissassembling them.


----------



## Lyndon

Sometimes we use one of these specialty trailers with a lot of extra axels. the individual units before and after the trailer are called "Jeep's".


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## Lyndon

But for the really big modules we use these, commonly reffered to as caterpilars units or they have some other slang names.


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## Lyndon

To continue the Tour of Milne: This is S-Pad. The oil from the 38 Wells here is a thick as roofing tar.


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## Lyndon

The last Pad, "T" or "Texaco" Pad. That manlift with the tracks was there so I got some close-ups.


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## Lyndon

The 3 Temporary Camps at Texaco Pad for the pipeline crew. Only 2 are very visable. The third is hiding in the back, you can just see the front of it over the tractor trailer in the center of the photo. They are set up in a horseshoe arraingement.

Huge generators are all blasting away that heat and light each camp. A set-up like this will use 1000 gallons of fuel a day.


----------



## Lyndon

This is a Caribou Shack. It and a dozen more like it will be used by the welders to weld the new pipeline together. They are placed straddle of the pipe by a special Side Boom Tractor and allow the welders to work out of the wind.


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## Lyndon

Pipelayers/sideboom


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## Lyndon

Good Morning. Day 10, it's -25, with a 8 MPH winds and the windchill is down around -48. This first photo I took yesterday, and almost deleted it. These strange looking objects are VIBRATION DAMPNERS. They prevent the pipe from going into oscillations during high winds. There are several pipes in this rack. One has the dangling Ball Type, the others have lthe adjustable cantilever "hammer" style. Too dark out for pictures this morning.


----------



## Lyndon

I think we are at Day 11, it's easy to loose track when you work 21 consecutive 12 hour day's. Didn't feel to good yesterday. That was compounded by lots of work. Feeling much better today, but the camera went 'on-strike' right when I needed it to document something, so probably not much for pictures today. It was -28 this morning, but has warmed up to -22 and is a beautiful clear blue sky day.


----------



## Lyndon

I suppose I should have done a thread on TAPS, acronym for the Trans Alaska Pipeline Service co. *THEY* had 44 Snow Cats! While were waiting for the camera to recharge:


----------



## Lyndon

As I worked the entire 800 mile corridor of the pipeline, at all 12 Pump Stations, The VMT(Valdez Marine Terminal) and a series of private airports that they operate, I got a very thurough overview. I have personal pictures standing at the 0 Mile marker at Pump 1 in Prudhoe and right on down to the VMT where I have a picture standing in front of the 800 Mile Marker at the VMT. I'll see about digging up the pictures and put them on another thread.


----------



## Lyndon

Only Pump Station's 1 thru 4 are truely "North of the Arctic Circle" this is the start of the trans alaska pipeline.


----------



## Lyndon

"T" Shirts and Ball Caps portray this as: *ALASKA STATE BIRD*

The Mosquito's don't actually get quite this big, but there certainly are more of them that anywhere else in the world. Fortunately the season is short. 

They can get so thick that it makes it seem like it's 'Overcast' on a bright sunny day! They can literally damp-out the sun.


----------



## Lyndon

Good Afternoon. It's about 2:30 on Day 12. It's been snowing for about 24 hours. Temp is -19. When it warms up like this, then snows, that is generally followed by a "BLOW". It seems like Prudhoe is the windiest place on earth sometimes. 70MPH periodically, over 100 on ocassion. One Oilfield "T" shirt reads: Prudhoe Bay Wind Festival, Jan 1 thru Dec 31..
This little windmill powers a flashing light at an intersection. It hardley ever stops turning. It was "flying" when I took the picture. 

And the Signs are spring loaded at the bases and will lay right down on the ground in a stiff wind.


----------



## Lyndon

We wear all FRC's. That is Fire Resistant Clothing. Our mechanics suits, arctic parkas, 'Bib's'. This is a real Arctic Parka. good for about 60 below.


----------



## Lyndon

A Team of Military personel, and some professional mountain climbers did a test comparing: 1) Arctic Clothing from Sporting Goods stores and Outfitters, 2) Military Issued (US) Arctic Gear, and lastly 3) OIL COMPANY Arctic Gear. Their assesments were pretty unanimous. One of the GI's commenting: Boy this is the Real S@#*! They all agreed that the OIL company stuff was superior. This is a "Bomber Parka" it differs from an Arctic Parka in that it doesn't have the Fox Fur collar, which you only need when it starts blowing, then it is highly effective.


----------



## Lyndon

The Hard Hat in this picture also has an arctic FRC Liner, very useful. We are required to carry Arctic gear 100% of the time, incase your truck breaks down. That what's in the bag. One Arctic parka, Arctic 'BIBs', Mittens, a Face Shield, and a pair of Arctic boots, usually rated to 90 below.


----------



## Lyndon

We are also required to wear some type of traction devices on our shoes. This is one of many "Slip-on" varieties available. Boot Chains.


----------



## Lyndon

If there's one thing that we are really serious about in the Alaska Oil fields it's Spill Containment. We kick one of these little drip-liners under before fueling 100% of the time, no exceptions. The alternative is a Plane ticket home, and you don't get invited back!


----------



## Lyndon

At the start of this thread when I said "Grab Your Arctic Gear" I was serious. Failure to carry it is grounds for termination.>
This is a DUCK POND. I carry one in the back of my truck and place it under the engine everytime I stop somewhere to inspect. Everything, Trucks, cranes, loaders, graders.... get parked over one of these. If a vehicle has recuring leakage problems we just get rid of it and get a NEW one! (not a new duck Pond, a NEW LOADER!) They are quite intollerant of old leaky equipment.


----------



## Lyndon

Because we get such serious winds so much of the time, Duck Ponds have to be tethered to the trucks as they have a tendancy to blow away. I've seen a whole row of vehicles with their Duck ponds flying like kites off the mirriors of a row of vehicles.


----------



## Lyndon

These next 7 pictures are a "PAN" or 360 degree view of A-Pad. It's a busy place today.


----------



## Lyndon

The Centrilift shop where they service "Down Hole" pumps.


----------



## Lyndon

In a circle each pict is to the right of the previous one, taken from the center of A-pad. Trenching operations are on-going behind Centrilift shop, and some offices for the Pipeline construction project are to it's right.


----------



## Lyndon

The rig Camp, and the new 1,000,000$ Tent. It's heated, and 100 by 200.


----------



## Lyndon

The Insulator's shack, then the Scaffold builders shop, then the Mechanical shop for the welders/pipefitters, then the 'break shack'


----------



## Lyndon

The Mechanics shop, not to be confused with the Mechanical Shop. In the Mechanics shop they fix machinery and vehicles. in the Machanical Shop they weld, grind, fabricate, and pressure test Pipe, usually reffered to as "Spools".


----------



## Lyndon

Last shot of A-Pad.


----------



## pixie

WOW  This tour is great !!

I had been going to ask you what kind of boots you used... are they bulky and heavy ?

I could use a gross of drip liners.....


----------



## Lyndon

Inside Centrilift Shop where they store and service 100 to 800 HP "Down-Hole" pumps. these submersible pumps can be up to 60 feet long, and may be at the bottom of a well 4 miles deep.


----------



## Lyndon

One of the Actual Pumps. This is a small one. They operate at around 2500 volts off a "Variable Frequency Drive" that allows one to adjust the rate it pumps at. They incorperate some ingenious features to read the temperature and pressures at the bottom of the well from the surface. The whole thing consists of both pieces screwed together.


----------



## Lyndon

Day 13. -42, 5MPH winds, -60 with the windchill. the truck took 5 tries to get started. They will be moving Doyan Rig 14, a BIG one, off one of our drill sites, and it will be moving 60 miles to the east. It's monster 3 story Camp will also be leaving. Should get some good picts today. 12 foot wide SOW's that sort of stuff. One of our field engineers here, an alaskan, has a Bombardier Dual Drive Muskeg. His has an even bigger Dodge Flat Head Six that I didn't know they made, a 265 CU. He drives his Muskeg in 40 Miles to his mine/hunting camp. He uses a PTO off the Muskeg to power his pumps and sluce box for his mine. I don't know, 40 miles across Tundra in a Muskeg? Sounds tuff! There might actually be something to that "It's touigher in Alaska" slogan after all.


----------



## Lyndon

There's a beautiful full moon over the Slope today. It's 1968 miles from my house in Seattle to Fairbanks Via tha Alaska Highway. I've made this trip 7 times with a Truch and Trailer. Once pulling a Snow Cat, once Pullinng 2 snow cat's, and once pulling a snow cat, and 2 huge, heavy Generator set's. From Fairbanks to Deadhorse (Prudhoe Bay) it's 498 miles, just 2 miles shy of 500, up the notorius "Haul Road", gravel and Ice and Snow the whole way. At Atigan Pass, 4000' there are avalanches, man-made, on a daily basis during the winter. Many truckers have died there. Today we received 10 trailer truck loads of Pipe. It's too dark for pictures yet, but I'll get some when it get's light. It's another 38 Miles from Dead Horse to Milne Point. so just from the North West corner of the US (Seattle)to Milne Pt. is...2504 miles. The Pipe, a pre-fabricated, insulated with an outer metal jacket, was manufactured in the "Lower 48" either in Alabama or Pennsylvania,  so it is likely that some of these truckers have never been North Of the Arctic Circle. That also means that they may have driven some 5000 miles, across Atigan Pass. They are all out waiting in the cabs of there trucks for it to get light so that they can unload on the newley constructed Ice Pad that is the storage area for the pipeline job. This is a Salute to these Truck drivers that have just made a long hazardous trip. I hope they make it home in one piece and have enjoyed their Arctic Adventure, here 300 miles North of the Arctic circle.


----------



## Lyndon

Here's the Pipe. It's not too many truckers that can brag: I just made a delivery one 1/5 th of the way around the world to a place where "Hell" does freez over. (the round trip, of 10,000 miles being more than a 1/3rd of the circumference of the Earth!)


----------



## Lyndon

During the Pipeline construction, many truckers making this "Long-Haul" up the un-paved ALCAN(Alaska/Canada highway), with materials and equipment like Caterpillar tractors from Peoria Ill, were quoted as saying:"NEVER AGAIN!",.. "Too Tough on the Truck".


----------



## Lyndon

Here's a "PIPELAYER" arriving on a 12 foot wide 'low-boy'. One of many that will be used for this new pipeline job.


----------



## Lyndon

A Cat 572 or 594 "Side Boom" for building pipelines is quite different from a regular Cat D9 Dozer. It weighs in at 50,000+ Lbs, has a rigid undercarriage and cannot be converted into a dozer because of this. On one side is the Boom that can move in and out. on the other side are hydraulically controlled counterweights that move away from the machine to counterbalance the load. 

At a cost of close to a million $ each, they are a very specialized piece of equipment. It's begining to look like they may not move the "RIG" and it's camp today,... it may be too cold. At negative 45 (current temp),equipment starts giving trouble and people can only be exposed for short durations. More up dates on this as it progresses.


----------



## Lyndon

Frame #153 has a good detail of the Hydraulic counter weight assembly.


----------



## Lyndon

*WHAT IS IT ABOUT THESE TRUCKS?* What's different? they are all running, but that's not it. It looks cold, but thats not it either.


----------



## Lyndon

Guess? Well it has to do with "Arctic Gear". They are all "*CREW CAB'S*. So that you can carry your artic survival gear inside a warm place. Would you want to put on artic survival gear that was frozen to 40 below if your truck died or got stuck? NO WAY! Prudho is the 'Crew-Cab' capitol of the world.


----------



## Lyndon

This is the inside of the 100 by 200 foot 'Tent' where we store big equipment INSIDE. 



Plenty of room for 7 Loaders, a mobile Crane, a Grader, a D7 Cat, and some trucks. Heated, Lit, with CO2 , Carbon Monoxide, Heat, and Fire Detection systems.


----------



## Lyndon

BOY is it cold out! The drag created by the thick oil in the front differential on my PU is so stiff that it will barely drive in 2 wheel drive. After running in 4 wheel for a while it warms up. When I first started driving, even after the truck sat warming up for an hour, the dense greese and oils make it appear that the brakes are on. When I let off the gas the truck stops right away like I used the brakes. >
They have cancelled the Rig move for today because of extreem cold. Good day to stay inside. The Drilling crew was kind enough to let me inside the Mobile Rig Camp to take these pictures of their "Chow-Hall". This is the interior of Doyan Rig 14's Chow hall. It's the 3 Story, Drab yellow, man camp in post #5, 13, & 16 of this 'Thread'.


----------



## Lyndon

This is one DELUX Mobile "Man-Camp". I stayed in it for a week around 2000 when it was brand new. It houses about 50 workers comfortably. There was a Sattellite receiver in every room for TV. 

So what do you think so far?


----------



## XeVfTEUtaAqJHTqq

Priceless stuff Lyndon!  Thanks again!


----------



## Lyndon

Lyndon said:


> There's a beautiful full moon over the Slope today. It's 1968 miles from my house in Seattle to Fairbanks Via tha Alaska Highway. I've made this trip 7 times with a Truch and Trailer. Once pulling a Snow Cat, once Pullinng 2 snow cat's, and once pulling a snow cat, and 2 huge, heavy Generator set's. From Fairbanks to Deadhorse (Prudhoe Bay) it's 498 miles, just 2 miles shy of 500, up the notorius "Haul Road", gravel and Ice and Snow the whole way. At Atigan Pass, 4000' there are avalanches, man-made, on a daily basis during the winter. Many truckers have died there. Today we received 10 trailer truck loads of Pipe. It's too dark for pictures yet, but I'll get some when it get's light. It's another 38 Miles from Dead Horse to Milne Point. so just from the North West corner of the US (Seattle)to Milne Pt. is...2504 miles. The Pipe, a pre-fabricated, insulated with an outer metal jacket, was manufactured in the "Lower 48" either in Alabama or Pennsylvania,  so it is likely that some of these truckers have never been North Of the Arctic Circle. That also means that they may have driven some 5000 miles, across Atigan Pass. They are all out waiting in the cabs of there trucks for it to get light so that they can unload on the newley constructed Ice Pad that is the storage area for the pipeline job. This is a Salute to these Truck drivers that have just made a long hazardous trip. I hope they make it home in one piece and have enjoyed their Arctic Adventure, here 300 miles North of the Arctic circle.


 In the spirit of this Tribute to our truckers take a look at what these guy's just saw: About 100 miles outside of Fairbanks they crossed the Yukon River Bridge:


----------



## Lyndon

This is the only Bridge over the 1800 Mile long Yukon in the state of alaska. It slants down! and has a WOOD deck! it is a full 2880 feet long. Inspecting for the pipeline I crossed it perhaps 500 times. The 48 Inch pipeline is carried along one side. The big PA horns are to yell at people who stop on the bridge. It is watched by TV cameras from a nearby security post. the signs say NO STOPPING, but tourists do it anyway.

This is the view the truckers saw perhaps 8 hours ago.


----------



## Lyndon

Along about the Arctic Circle the trees vanish. The stumps are out of the photo, but near-by from where the previous trees were stolen. they just move the sign down to the next tree. I had a photo of myself in this tree, about 3 feet off the ground holding on tight. The appropriate caption read: "The Original Tree Huger".

The sign reads:*FARTHERST NORTH SPRUCE TREE ON THE ALASKA PIPELINE, DO NOT CUT*


----------



## Lyndon

*THE TRUCKERS NIGHTMARE!*

*THIS IS ATIGUN PASS*


----------



## Lyndon

*ATIGUN IN SUMMER ALASKA PIPELINE IN BACKGROUND*


----------



## Lyndon

When they bring those specialty Heavy Haul trailers with modules on them across this pass, they chain up all the truck wheels, and all the trailer wheels. With 2 tractors pulling the trailer and three behind it pushing, it amounts to a lot of tires and chains, and takes quite awhile to 'Chain-up' and an equal amount of time to Un-Chain. They will have several escort vehicles.

This is the Mount for an Avalanche Cannon, a "French 75" that fires big explosive shells to initiate the avalanches. This is something to witness.


----------



## Lyndon

*THINK YOUR DRIVEWAY'S BAD?*



The Guard Rail get's completely destroyed every year by: Avalanches, Snow Plows, and Vehicles hitting it. By the end of a season the "W" shape has been completely mashed out of it by snow plows and it is a Flat sheet of metel, whats left of it.


----------



## Lyndon

Module in transit.

This one has 4 pushing and 1 pulling. That 'Leed' Tractor is such a specialty unit that it never get's driven home. It get's a Ride! It, and the trailer broken down into pieces get hauled back to Fairbanks or Anchorage on  conventional low-boy truck trailers. So now you've seen what the 10 truck drivers delivering our new pipe just saw yesterday. Enjoy.


----------



## Snowcat Operations

Keep on posting LYNDON!  These are great!


----------



## EastTexFrank

Great photos Lyndon.  Post #194 - you gotta be kiddin' me!!!!!


----------



## snowbird

Would it be OK with you if I put together a "slide show" of your pictures and captions for my classes in economics and human geography that I teach at a community college?  They'd really be interesting material and would demonstrate the lengths we'll go to to produce oil and profit.


----------



## Lyndon

EastTexFrank said:


> Great photos Lyndon.  Post #194 - you gotta be kiddin' me!!!!!


 You like that Atigun from a plane shot? Remind me to tell you about the trucker that rolled the Tandem tanker there> 
good morning, Day 14, -37, warmed up a bit. 2 Weeks! only one to go. gotta scoot to a meeting, but probably Rig & Camp Move Pic's today.


----------



## EastTexFrank

The only disappointing thing about this whole thread is realizing that you only work 21 days straight.  Back in days of steel men and wooden derricks we worked 28 days.  North slope  

Just kidding man.  Looking at those photos makes you realize that it's a young man's game up there.  A lot younger than me at any rate.  What is the average age of the people working and living in those conditions?  

Great thread.  Keep them coming for another week.  I'm going to miss it when you go home... bet you don't though.


----------



## Lyndon

They have decided to go ahead and move the Rig Camp and the Rig. Several of the really BIG trucks have arrived. As the Drill Rig is at one of the farthest extremities of Milne Pt., "F-Pad", they wil completely tie up 17 miles of our road system. It's still dark out so limited Pictures.

(2) 12 foot wide 1,000,000,000 Lb "SOW's"


----------



## Lyndon

*NEWS FLASH, MILNE DOWN!* At 8:00 AM Alaska time, we lost a big substation out at one of the "Pads". It knocked out power to 4 major locations and we had to go to "Flair". Some 13,800 Volt equipment failed. This has never happened since I've worked here so everyone is hopping. Normally the Flare has just a small Pilot flame. Anytime there is an "UPSET", surplus gas being compressed has to have somewhere to go or pipes and vessels could get over pressurized. Flaring is NOT good as these things go. More on this as it progresses.


----------



## Lyndon

Were back "ON-LINE", partially anyway. One of our electricians was at the location of the Substation failure and said it was some pretty spectacular fireworks! The pad that we lost was one of our big producers so there will be quite a push to get it back on-line. Anytime we have a big upset like this, the entire Fire Department Rolls, The ERT (Emergency Response Team) Rolls, all work permits are automatically cancelled, and everyone goes to their "Assembly Area". There they do a head count and positively account for everyone. Anyone not accounted for thay start an immediate searching for, by radios that we all carry. The Fireman and the ERT guys go looking for them at the last place they were working. With hearing protection and eye protection on and all the other protective gear it is possible not to be aware of a evacuation alarm. There are seperate different alarm bells and horns for Fire, Gas, and other Events, 4 in all. Some mean "Head for the Hills!" some mean evacuate the area, some mean go to your assembly area. 
The Rig Move is slated to go ahead. This is the Maintenance Shop that stays with the RIG. It's big enough to pull a 966 Cat laoder in, and has full machining and welding equipment as well as an overhead crane. Actually it's one of the smallest loads, but there are alot of snow cat owners out there that would like to have it delivered to their place, including me.


----------



## Lyndon

EastTexFrank said:


> The only disappointing thing about this whole thread is realizing that you only work 21 days straight.  Back in days of steel men and wooden derricks we worked 28 days.  North slope
> 
> My first job on the Pipeline was a 4 X 2, so 28 days on. I eventually worked up to 7 week hitches regularly. On one ocassion I worked 18 Weeks, took 10 days off, and worked 19 Weeks. 2/3s of a year. Not anymore thank you!


----------



## Lyndon

Between scrambling to get work done and the Upset, didn't get much time for the forum. The crisis is over, we lost 3 production pads, and all power to the busy A-Pad fabrication facility. A few hours later power was restored to everything but one pad. This is where the "Problen" was at some 13.8 KV Switchgear. It started arcing around one of the insulators. Dirt trapped with snow was the culprit. 

All those HUGE Trucks that were here to move the 'Rig' and it's associated Camp have left. They put off the move until tomorrow. They even left that shop, sitting on the trailer right where it was. There were some 7, 8 or 9 of them, and they rent for about 500$ an Hour, each. So one 24 hour day for say 8 trucks is 96,000$.


----------



## Lyndon

One last story for today: A Tandem Trailer Tanker looses control on Atigun pass. The Truck and it's 2 Trailers rolled like 50 times and was a full half mile off the road. Shortly along come 2 Alaska Pipeline employees. They imediately call it in. "Yeah, it's really bad, send the wrecker and the ambulance, but no hurry, there's NO WAY the driver survived". Unnoticed by the 2 pipeline employees, sitting maybe 100 feet away in a snow bank is the trucker who shouts at the 2 guy's:"To Hell With That Send The @#% %*#@ Ambulance!" The 2 Pipeline employees are astonished to find that the driver was thrown clear on the first roll, and only has a broken arm! True Story. The pictures of this wreck are impressive.


----------



## XeVfTEUtaAqJHTqq

Lyndon said:


> My first job on the Pipeline was a 4 X 2, so 28 days on. I eventually worked up to 7 week hitches regularly. On one ocassion I worked 18 Weeks, took 10 days off, and worked 19 Weeks. 2/3s of a year. Not anymore thank you!



How many Snow Tracs did that buy you! 

Awesome thread - be safe up there!


----------



## Snowcat Operations

I LOVE that shop!  Have them deliver it (for free please) to my back yard!


----------



## Lyndon

On the 19 week 'hitch' my gross was about 76K, and yes it did pay for some Snow Trac's. 
The Nufarious "Haul-Road" is really 3 highways: The first 11 miles is the Steese Highway which turns off at FOX, just north of Fairbanks, and proceeds NE to the native villages of Central and Circle, ending very near the Arctic Circle. After the Stese turns off, it becomes the Elliot, for another 70 miles, and that turns off to the west and dead ends at the native village of Manley Hot Springs. finally it's the Dalton the rest of the way to Deadhorse.


----------



## Lyndon

Where the Haul-Road crosses the Arctic circle is a pull off with this sign, a favorite for getting one's photo by.


----------



## Lyndon

The actual spot where the tandem tanker was swept off the road is bare area right where the road dissapears off to the right around the mountain. It landed further down out of this photo.


----------



## Lyndon

Once you leave Fairbanks there are no services for the public until you get to Cold Foot, 250 miles. Fairbanks is between Pump 7 and Pump 8. Pump's 5,4,3,2,&1 are all North of the Arctic Circle.


----------



## Lyndon

Some sights along the way: 

Finger Mountain


----------



## Lyndon

Cold Foot Alaska. You could get food, and fuel but not much else. For medical attention there's an airport here and they fly you to Fairbanks.


----------



## Lyndon

The next town, Wiseman with some active Gold mines.


----------



## Lyndon

Pump Station 4, just north of Atigun Pass.


----------



## Lyndon

Touring the Pipeline is an entirely different experience if you Work There. For starters there are 7 pump Stations between Fairbanks and Prudhoe, that have great accomodations, full service shops, and 4 star 'chow' halls. Stake, Shrimp, Lobster, King Crab, and Prime Rib! there's computer, phone, a helicopter, and a full time medic. BUT pump stations are not open to the public. One has to be a Badged, Pipeline Employee  to get thru the gate.


----------



## Lyndon

Inspecting the Pipeline.

Driving the 'Haul Road'


----------



## Lyndon

Day 14 is over. Wonder whats for dinner?
Someones home along the Haul road.


----------



## Lyndon

Good Morning, DAY 15. At 4 AM it was -45, -71 with the wind chill. We had a choice of Steak, Spare Ribs, or Curried Chicken Cutlets for dinner. I may have missed the Rig move, they started it last night and it's too dark for pictures yet. This morning I sat thru a 5:30 planning and organizing meeting, a 6;00 Big BP Safety Meeting in the Gym, and a AES Toolbox/Saety Meeting and generated a report all before 7 AM. Still have one more meeting at 11:00, but theres a chance I can squeek in some pictures before that.


----------



## Lyndon

*TRUELY A "SHIP-OF-THE-LAND"* Doyan Rig 14 at the "Why" intersection in front of the camp at Milne Pt. It will wait here for the bus to leave to take people who are flying in and out to the plane at Kuparuk. Once it starts moving the road will be blocked up for hours and there is no alternate route around. They are just now announcing that is it starting to move and what it's travel time to the next intersection will be on the security channel on our radio's. Shown elsewhere in post#4,37,49,50, & 98 of this thread. 1.5 Million Lbs. The previous posts give some other data and description. 

The picture below you might recognise from last years Arctic Survey ( Alaska Cat Trains) is Rig 14 out on an Ice pad drilling a test Well, also Here at Milne. It can drill a well 30,000 (more than 4 miles!) deep. To power it, it has roughly (7) Cat 399 Generator sets that each can generate 1 MeggaWatt, roughly equivalent to 1400 HP. That makes the total generating capacity around 7 MW, or 9800 Horse Power. All the wheels 'Steer', and all the wheels are Hydraulically powered. Top speed is about 5MPH, so it will take 2 or 3 days to make the 60 mile jaunt to it's next work site, Endicott.


----------



## Lyndon

Map of the North Slope.

Below, Endicott Island. It has a "causway" to the land. But Doyan 14 is too big and heavy for the bridges so it will travel on a special Ice Road that has just been completed.


I make regular trips to this facility. It is generally considered to have the nicest camp and best food of all the North Slope oil opertions.


----------



## Lyndon

"Ship of the land", an hour later, about 2 miles down the road:


----------



## Lyndon

Where do you *GO*? A trailer mounted, heated unit. Small diesel generator set. 

In case you don't want to drive 10 miles back to the Camp. It's a bit tight with all those layers of Arctic Gear on.


----------



## Lyndon

the Pipeline Ice Road system is complete. Here they have laid out what will become the VSM's, or Verticle Support Members that will eventually carry the new pipelines.


----------



## Lyndon

This special Drill rig will punch the holes in the permafrost for the VSM's. It's down on the Ice Road, I'm on the gravel Pad Road.


----------



## Lyndon

Once the holes are drilled, a crane drops them in place, they get leveled up and they pour a sand/water slurry around the base and they get frozen back into the Tundra.


----------



## Lyndon

VSM's installed:


----------



## Lyndon

VSM


----------



## Lyndon

Day 16, -33, -53 W/windchill. Dark still. Had to inspect this Transformer yesterday. When we have a "BLOW" the tiny snow flakes we get here will find their way into everything.


----------



## Lyndon

Doyan 14 broke down! It's blocking a major artery that has no alternate route around. Workers are being Bussed up to it, have to walk thru it, some carring their luggage, to busses waiting on the other side. So far the Rig has gone about 1/4 of it's journey to Endicott. They will hold up all the flights to accomodate the staggelers.


----------



## Lyndon

This is Nabors Rig. It's on a much wider road that where Doyan 14 is stuck. These are "Rig Matt's" to prevent the tires from sinking into soft spots. The yellow ones up close are reinforced fiberglass. further back are the "old style" which ar 10' by 20', 4inch thick OAK, with Steel reinforcing. We place them where ever they have pipes passing under the road, at culverts and on soft spots in the Ice. Generally they stack them 2 hi, so getting your truck up on them is like climbing an 8" curb. Not something you want to do at say 45 MPH.


----------



## Lyndon

Sunrise from D-pad, looking at B-Pad.

From a distance dozens of these look like little ships on the horizon.


----------



## Lyndon

CFP This Morning.


----------



## Lyndon

We have a Corrosion Crew, and an EX-Ray crew. These guy's constantly inspect pipe. The EX-RAY guy's are called, NDE, or NDT 'Tech's'. NDE is Non Destructive Examination, and NDT is Non Destructive Testing. These guys use a tiny, the size of a tip of a match, piece of radioactive Uranium or Strontium to generate their pictures. Exposure to it for about 30 seconds would be fatal! Pretty serious stuff. Anyway, what the Corrosion guy's and the NTE, & NTD guy's have in common is something very few of the several hundred FF members have: WHAT WOULD THAT BE?


----------



## Lyndon

Well what do all the snow cat owners out there have? Snow Cat's. So what could Pipeline inspectors have that they have?


----------



## Lyndon

Hint: This is the place where you don't sneeze with out a Permit!


----------



## Lyndon

*CERTIFICATION TO OPERATE A SNOW CAT* Esentially a "Snow-Cat" operators license. This is one of 2 that they carry.


----------



## pixie

I'm looking forward to hearing what's happening with the Doyan 14 ! It must be a real headache to have the road blocked !!!


----------



## Lyndon

Day 17. it's a blustery -18, but the wind chill is still keeping it at -36 and that wind can really bite! I'm "Gettin-Short" military slang used on the slope to denote that one is close to going home. Doyan 14 is fixed and off the Kuparuk river bridge and a few miles further up the road. Now there are several alternate routes around the rig. But this rig and one other have now been stopped cold by a sow Polar Bear and 2 cubs. Until the sow and her cubs move on, the Ice Road is permanently closed. 8 AM. More as it get's light out.


----------



## Lyndon

*CORRECTION* The original name of this thread was going to be: 21 Days,*300 MILES,*North of the Arctic Circle. But it was too long. But there IS a bit of a difference!


----------



## Lyndon

This is one of my projects. It's called the "ECM Mod", or Electrical Control Module. 13,800 volt will come in to it and be transformed down to 480 Volt and distributed to all the places around this pad.


----------



## Lyndon

Here's the Inside:


----------



## Lyndon

Here's a close up of one of several 2000Amp Frame Circuit Breakers.


----------



## Lyndon

Over on another one of our Pads, the Nabors drill Rig is just "De-Mobing". Short for De-Mobilizing, it has completed it's task and will head to another well. The Mast in in the 'Laid-down' ready for travel position. As soon as it leaves my guy's will go to work reconnecting the well.


----------



## Lyndon

This is a *TEST SEPERATOR*. It houses a little lab for testing oil samples, and some chemicals to inhibit corrosion on the pipe system. It has the dreaded "UV's" or Ultra Violet detectors and is completely off limits for picture taking. One of these UV sensors, that look like a small TV Camera, can see a spark 'around a corner'! Not really, but they can pick up the reflection of a spark or the flash of a camera. This doesn't just make some alarm bell sound. The UV detector "talks" to a PLC. The Programmable Logic Controller(PLC) is a computer of sorts. It starts shutting down wells ( a source of fuel), shutting down pumps, closing Valves and initiates the Fire Supression system, all automatically and FAST! It also notify's the Fire Department and other Emergency Response Teams and they ROLL! There was one of these  'Test Seperator's' next to where my electricians are changing out a big Transformer outside, so sorry, NO Pic's of that work today.


----------



## Lyndon

*ARCTIC CHALLENGE* I have this friend back east named John. He won this violin off some "bad-ass" dude in some type of competition. It's _REAL_ Gold!, Not solid, just "Leaf". He says: "Hey Lyndon, you work up on the slope with a bunch of Texans don't you. ( About one in five North Slope Oil workers is a Texan). If you should ever run into a guy named Charlie Daniels why don't you give this to him. He earned it, and I don't play it very much anymore. Now I Snow Board and play my guitar" And let me tell you John is good at both, Snowboarding and Guitar!
Anyway here's the challenge: You Researchers on the South Pole at McMurdo and Scott Base, You Canadian Ice Road Truckers, and You US Armed Forces Cold Weather Unit dudes: Come on up to Milne Point. We'll play a little *ARCTIC VOLLEY BALL, or how about an ARCTIC BASKET BALL  Match*
If I was a "Bett'n Man" I'd be putting my money on the Milne Team. Our Insulators, Scaffold builders, Tin Knockers, Mechanic's, Welders, Electricians, Carpenters, Surveyors.... are up to the challenge. Those Surveyours on that thread about:" 500$ @ hour job, must be fast on your feet", that are playing tag with a Real, Live, Polar Bear, those are *OUR* Surveyor's! Come on up, we'll take your money!


----------



## Lyndon

Here's the Transformer Swap. The  pad Operator said I could go ahead and take pictures even though it's right next to the dreaded "Test Seperator Mod" with it's sensitive UV's. I escorted the crane the 7 miles over to the location.


----------



## Lyndon

The New transformer.


----------



## Lyndon

Pulling out the old one:


----------



## Lyndon

Installing the New Replacement Transformer.


----------



## cabinboy

Hey ,Lyndon I am still digging this stuff keep it coming . You folks sure do have to put up with some very tough conditions .That new 480 v switch gear sure is sweet looking  equipment. Thanks again for all of the pictures and info.


----------



## Lyndon

*RED*

Thanks for the words of encouragement. Really like your LOGO!
It's -1, no wind, and has been snowing hard for quite awhile. Not much for picture taking oppertunities today. That and I've been quite busy. Always seems to happen right at the end of my "hitch". Day18.
Saint Peter is showing this Texan around Heaven. He shows him this beautiful garden, and the Texan say's "Oh, we got something like that in Texas called the Pertinellies", St. Peter shows him a beartiful Mountain Brook, the Texan: " Oh, we got something like that in Texas called..." , He shows him some beautiful canyon, again the Texan" We got something like that in Texas". At this point Saint Peter is getting a little 'Put-off' by the Texan so he takes hime over to the edge of an Abyss, below which are the Fires of Hell. The Texan goes "Whoa!", thinks for a second, then says " We got an old boy that can put that out for you!"
This is off the back cover of Red Adair's Biography called Hell Fighters.


----------



## Lyndon

I never red Hell Fighters until recently, never saw the movie with John Wayne, but somewhere around my first year of High School, one of my closest friends did and he gave me a sort of play by play recap of it. that would be 1968.  In 1977 I was an Electrican in Houston Texas working for Berger Electric. We mostlly built Grocery Stores. It was one of the bigger, more successful electrical contractors in Houston employing 40 to 60 electricians. One day Me and the shops troubleshooter, Roy, get sent out to do a service call. The instructions on a work order said : Room 301, Adair Properties, and gave a Katy Freeway address, See Dwane. Adair Properties is the biggest Realtor in Houston at the time. We showed up at about 7:30 AM. When we got to the 3rd floor, room 301 was around the corner from the elevator and had a solid glass door made of one piece of inch thick glass. On this door it said RM 301, had a big Red Star and said Red Adair. I didn't think anything of it. We go in the office entry and no one is there, but it's open. On the walls are beautifull, Oil on Canvas paintings of Oil Well fires. I still havn't figgured it out! Then is see a magazine with an article about Hell Fighters with John Waynes picture on the cover! Finally the light goes on! Hey, this is that guy that David told me about in High School!


----------



## Lyndon

So a few minutes later in he comes. Says Dwayne, won't be in for about half an hour, so come on into my office and have some coffey he just brewed up! 
It was quite some years later that it dawned on me that I had actually met a "Living Legend in the Oil Industry".
Red Adair invented a wide range of specialty oil tooling and Safety devices that have saved countless oil workers lives. 
When a well stops producing you try all sorts of stuff to try to coax it back into service. One of the techniques is called "Fracking" which is slang for "Fracturing". In early oil development times they used to drop Nitro Glycerin down the well. this would crack up the rock formation and improve flow. This also killed lots of people. HIgh pressure gasses and liquids are also forced down a well to improve flow. A "Wire-Line" crew does this kind of work. Red Adair did this for a living part of his life. This is a WIRE LINE unit working. With the newer technology they also LOOK down the well with camers that get dropped in by the Wire Line unit.


----------



## Lyndon

Our tour has been mostly limited to Milne Point. Milne only accounts for about 1/25 of the Prudhoe Bay Oilfield. We are actually one of the smaller players. But the other opertions are very similar. Three in particular are much larger. Every site has Wells, and every site has a processor. We don't actually refine oil here. Oil, from every oilfield in the world comes out of the ground with some sand, water and usually some Natural Gas mixed in. The Processor seperates Sand, Water, and Gas out and they get reinjected back into the formation. The oil goes on to Pump One of the Trans Alaska Pipeline. This sculpture sit's near the "Discovery Well", the first successful oil well drilled here.


----------



## Lyndon

Arco calls their processing facilities in the EOA Flow Stations. It has 3. 

Flow Station One.


----------



## Lyndon

BP, in the WOA (EOA=Eastern Operting Area, WOA = Western Operating Area) calls their processors Gathering Centers and they also have 3. They are massive, complicated facilities. 
This is GC1.


----------



## Lyndon

Kuparuk, operated by PhillipsConoco, calls their processors CPF 1,2,&3. CPF stands for Central Processing Facilities. This is Kuparuk's headquarters, main camp, and CPF1.


----------



## Lyndon

The EOA,WOA,Kuparuk,Endicott, North Star Island, Lisbourns, Point Mac, Milne, Badami, and Alpine oil sites collectively make up the Prudhoe Bay oilfield. It is the largest Oilfield in North America, larger than Rhode Island. 
For the first 7 or 8 years it produced some 2.7 Million BBl's of oil a day, and supplied almost a quarter of the US demand. Now the field is in decline and only generates about 1 Million Bbls a day. With the Increase in population and subsequent increase in demand the Alaska Oil Fields only supply one 30th of the US's current demand. 3 New sites are currently being developed, TARN, Meltwater, and Liberty. This is an exploritory rig at Tarn a few years back. 

Alaska currently supplies all the Oil to Hawaii, Alaska,Washington State, and Oregon with some smaller amounts going to parts of Montana, Idahoe, and California.


----------



## Lyndon

My "Hitch" is almost over. Usually I get called out to one of the other sites, specifically Endicott, or North Star Island at least once during my hitch. I guess those pictures will have to wait for another day. When inspecting at these sites I have to Drive almost the length of Prudhoe, some 60 miles and have oppertunities to take more pictures. Maybe next hitch. The weather conditions are setting themselves up for a 'Blow'. It's could end up stranding me here for an extra day or 2, but that's normal for 300 Miles North of the Arctic Circle.


----------



## Lyndon

There are (5) major facilities I failed to mention: There is a Central Compressor Plant(CCP) that compresses Natural Gas, and a massive plant that 'Cleans' the Gas, call CGF. They sit near each other and have rows of massive Turbines. Each machine is about 50,000 HP. There are 10 or 11 at each facility. 
There is a Power House on the WOA, that generates power for that area. I couldn't get a picture of it, but is is the largest power house in the state of alaska, and generates about 200 MW.


----------



## Lyndon

There are also (2) STP's. Sea Water Treatment plants. They take Sea water and Desalinate it as well as getting any algea out. They are esentially huge distillation units. both have their own camps and sit right on the ocean so they get regular visits by polar bears.


----------



## pixie

Thanks for telling about what happens as far as 'processing' !

How far away is the water from the desalination plants piped around the area ?


----------



## Lyndon

The water get's piped to almost every drill site. There it is injected at very high pressure into the formation. Oil floats on water, so the water is injected below the oil. This serves several functions as follows. Primarily it keeps the pressure up which pushes the oil to the surface. It also serves to keep the formation from becoming a hollow cave that might collapse. It can aid in drawing out heavier greese like oils that are hard to extract by loosening them up and making them less viscous.


----------



## Lyndon

It's Day 19. Windy, -6, -26 with the windchill. It's blowing enough that it feels pretty cold even though -6 is considered a 'heatwave' here at this time of year. The Pipeline is going full blast. 

Above crews drilling the holes for the VSM's.


Here they are setting one in place. they use the busses as mobile break shacks and warming hut's. One is trailering a 'porta-potty'.


----------



## Lyndon

Tomorrow's my last 'workday' and I may be too busy to post or answer questions. Here's some more of the Pipeline construction. It will be almost completed when I return.

Leveling up VSM's. 

Surveyors up here seem to get the most "outside exposure" of any of the trades.


----------



## Lyndon

A unique meteorological effect up here is called "SUNDOGS" and results from Ice crystals in the air. It's hard to photograph. The first 2 pictures I just took, and enhanced, the last one is someones elses. 





They can be very specatular. Hope you enjoyed your tour, 300 Miles North of the Arctic Circle.


----------



## pezman

Lyndon, Thanks for sharing the last 19 days with us! I've learned alot reading all of these posts, I just wish all the 'people' that complain about us "destroying Alaska" with oil exploration would read along LEARN something!!


----------



## EastTexFrank

Thanks a lot mate.  I enjoyed every post.  Get through tomorrow, go home and enjoy some time off.  A'ra'best .... Frank


----------



## Lyndon

The Big "BLOW" is here, which means I won't be as busy as normal. They have declared "PHASE ONE CONDITIONS". In Phase 2, you might be able to see 2 or three 'delineators' which are the markers along the side of the road. In PHASE 3 you might be able to see the hood of your truck from the drivers seat, or you might not be able to see out the windshield at all. Enjoy. DAY20!


----------



## XeVfTEUtaAqJHTqq

Lyndon,  do you have to wait for your replacement before you can leave or do you just get to leave at the end of your "time"?


----------



## Lyndon

Sometimes we overlap, sometimes we don't. There is a housing shortage up here and every bed is spoken for. I won't be seeing my alternate this time, unless maybe at the Anchorage Airport so I just finished writing a full page of "Change-Out" notes explaining what got done, what didn't and any "fires" he will be facing when he get's in. These big 'Blows' that we get periodically pretty much stomp out all  our outside work and it takes a day or two to dig out. They can persist for 4 and 5 day's. The hands get pretty board and they use the time to put us thru all kinds of safety training. 12 hours of watching training and safety video's is boring! They would much rather work. They get paid either way.


----------



## Lyndon

These first 3 pictures are looking out my office window toward the camp. It's almost exactly 120 paces yet it can be quite a brisk walk to lunch.


----------



## Lyndon

The first phote is looking out the little window in my door of my office at my truck. 

This second pic is looking from the outside in on the same window. Taken 60 seconds ago. Pretty "Gnarly" out today.


----------



## ewolf1951

Hey that wa s an interesting set of pictures and posts   Good Job   See you at home  ED


----------



## Lyndon

Ewolf1951 could probably tell you some good stories of his own. He actually delivered stuff from the lower 48, up to deadhorse during the original pipeline construction. HE drove a tractor trailer thru Atigun pass!


----------



## pixie

Thanks for the Great tour, Lyndon 

I've learned a lot.  
As much as I like winter, I don't think I could handle winter up there.


----------



## Lyndon

*MARCH 12, SNOW CATS!*
Spring? We've heard about it, some warming condition that happens in the "Lower-48". Won't happen here until JULY!
My 'alternate', Jamie, has stayed over a few extra days and has to go to Bedami, one of those Island development sites, so I'm driving him the 38 miles to the airport in Deadhorse. This is where he's going, and what it looks like in the summer.


----------



## Lyndon

In Deadhorse, a Tracked Trailer, and another tracked trailer. *ALL PHOTOS TAKEN TODAY*


----------



## Lyndon

A Tracked Tractor:


----------



## Lyndon

Tandem Trailers:


----------



## Lyndon

We just had a big blow, and another is said to be on it's way. It was pretty "GNARLY" out for the trip. This is the Alaska Air Terminal Parking lot in Deadhorse.


----------



## Lyndon

*LIVE, FROM PRUDHOE BAY*
THIS IS THE SIZEMIC SURVEY GUY'S STORAGE YARD.


----------



## Lyndon

THIS IS A NEW CAMP THAT THEY ARE BUILDING IN DEADHORSE.


----------



## Lyndon

HAGLUNDS, A TUCKER, & ICE ROAD BUILDER TANKER AT AN EQUIPMENT YARD.


----------



## Lyndon

A ROLLIGON & WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE OUTSIDE RIGHT NOW.


----------



## Lyndon

THE US POST OFFICE:


----------



## Lyndon

3 TRACKED TRACTORS BURIED IN SNOW.


----------



## Lyndon

ALL THE WHEELS ARE DRIVEN ON THIS ROLLIGON. THERE IS AN ENGINE FOR THE TRACTOR, AND ONE FOR THE TRAILER.


----------



## Lyndon

ON THE ROAD TO THE "CHECK-POINT" TO 'BADGE' BACK IN, A TUCKER AND ANOTHER TRACK RIG I MET AFTER BADGING IN.


----------



## Lyndon

THERE'S AN ARCTIC SURVEY ON-GOING. THIS IS YET ANOTHER TUCKER I MET ONTHE ROAD, THEN STUCK BEHIND TRAFFIC,(SNOW BLOWER & GRADER)


----------



## Lyndon

HERE'S SOMETHING I'VE NEVER SEEN BEFORE:


----------



## Lyndon

THIS IS BP'S NICE CAMP, CALLED *BOC* I PASSED ON THE RETURN TRIP TO MILNE.


----------



## Lyndon

THIS IS WHAT IT LOOKED LIKE ON THE DRIVE BACK. I JUST GOT A CALL AND IT SEEMS THE PLANE ISN'T FLYING, SO I HAVE TO MAKE THE TRIP AGAIN! LATER.


----------



## NorthernRedneck

I'll answer this question for you Lyndon just to save you some time so you can continue posting these great pics and stories....

Ice queen, if you're wondering what all that white stuff is in the pics, it's called SNOW!!!!!!!!


----------



## pixie

Great pictures !! I'm excited to see all the tracked equipment.  

Do you know what that bar in front of the "Godzilla" Rolligon is for ?

If the seismic guys aren't using those Tuckers, do you think I could borrow one ..... Please  ?  

Your days must be about 3 hours longer than the last time you were there ?

What makes the "BOC" camp "nice " ?


----------



## utahwilson

Lyndon,

Just curious, how fast do you drive on that road?  I've been to Montana twice in road conditions like that.  1st time, I spun a couple 360's headed up Manida (sp) pass (45mph).  Last time, this December I hit some ice about 20 miles into Idaho from Utah and flipped twice.  Was only driving about 50MPH.  Wife said,"road looks icy".  I let off the gas and next thing you know we are sliding sideways.  Apparently, letting off the gas was incorrect.

Yet, you indicated you've been doing this for 17 years without a wreck.

You drive in 4 wheel drive the whole time?

Two pluses from the accident.  One, finally got rid of that Nissan Titan and Two had enough money left over from insurance to buy snowcat.


Anyway, amazing pictures your providing us.  Very much enjoy reading your articles and viewing pictures while sitting here waiting for something to either break on our Network or someone trying to hack us.  Keep'em coming.


----------



## Lyndon

Well I'm Beat! 160+ Miles in borderline Phase 2 conditions was trying. they are up-grading the computer system and it's slow a molassas.
First Pixie's questions: I don't know what the Bar was on the Godzilla Rolligon. But a couple of these had both global positioners and Radar in an attempt to be able to drive them in complete white-out conditions.
The Day's are a bunch longer!
The BOC, BP's "Metal-City", has: 2 gyms, an indoor track with glass end walls just barely visable(center bldg), an Olympic sized Pool, A full size, slanted floor Theatre, and a glass Atrium that is 2 stories tall, and filled with nice plants. You can sit in it and have "Tea", like being in the Tropics, only in the Arctic.
Rooms at the BOC have private baths. The chow is 4 star. BOC Stands for *BP OPERATIONS CENTER* 
It also has Sauna's(several), besides the dining hall there is a snack bar that is open 27/7 with ice cream and cookies and sandwiches, several huge TV Rooms, TV in every sleeping room, Phone in every room, a chapel, a Full Emergency Room like in a Real Hospital, lots of training and meeting rooms with 2-Way TV for Teleconferencing. Several Pool tables, and all sorts of fitness equipment. Three other similar facilities exists elsewhere on the 'Slope'. MCC, PBOC, & Kuparuk, and have all the same amenities, except the Atrium and the pool.


----------



## Lyndon

*UTAHWILSON*:How we avoid accidents: 1) we drive slow! The slope is posted with very low speed limits. Max is 45, but many places it's 35, 25, and as low as 5. This place is run like a Millitary base, security everywhere, with radar. Also it's comparitively flat in Prudhoe. Not so with the Pipeline "Haul-Road". Probably the single biggest incentive for careful driving is: Screw-up, Loose your badge. Say good-by to that cushy high paying job. 'Cowboys' get a ticket home, and don't get invited back up. 
Not always in 4 wheel drive. I ran about half of today's trip in 4 wheel, ramming thru drifts, and when accelerating from a stop. But pulling tight turns and backing up in the paring lots NOT in 4 wheel. The snow grips pretty good, and the Ice get's lines scratched in it by a special attachment on the graders. the attachment is a "Scarifier" and leaves lines in the ice. Sort of like groved concrete roads.


----------



## Lyndon

A NODWELL CHIEFTAN, THAT I MISSED YESTERDAY.


----------



## Lyndon

3 ROLLIGONS. EACH "AIR-BAG"(WHAT THEY CALL THE SPECIAL TIRES) HAS IT'S OWN PRESSURE REGULATOR AND GUAGE. THEY RUN AT JUST A FEW PSI, CONTROLLABLE FROM THE OPERATOR SEAT. WHEN THE MACHINES ARE STORED FOR ANY LENGTH OF TIME THE TIRES DEFLATE, THUS THE HUGE METAL SAW-HORSES FOR THEM TO REST ON.


----------



## Lyndon

THE INTERIOR OF *BOC*:
THE BASKETBALL COURT WITH FITNESS EQUIPMENT ON BALCONY.


----------



## Lyndon

*B.O.C.* THE ATRIUM


----------



## Lyndon

*BOC* TRACK & VOLLEY BALL


----------



## Lyndon

*BOC* "CHOW-HALL" OR DINING AREA:


----------



## Lyndon

*BOC* POOL TABLES/FOOSE BALL/TABLE TENNIS


----------



## Lyndon

*BOC* THE SNACK AREA, CALLED THE "SPIKE-ROOM", OPEN 24/7.



AND YOU THOUGHT THE "CAMP" MEANT WE STAYED IN A TENT?


----------



## Lyndon

ONE OF THE TV LOUNGES:


----------



## Lyndon

BACK "ON-THE-ROAD", GC1 PROCESSING FACILITY.


----------



## Lyndon

ONE OF 3 SPECIALLY BUILT TRACK-HOE'S. IT CAN OPERATE ON HARD GROUND, SNOW, ICE AND FLOATS ON THE WATER. BUILT SPECIFICALLY TO TRENCH-IN THE UNDERSEA PIPELINE TO NORTHSTAR. HERE THE OCEAN FLOOR IS PERMA-FROST.


----------



## Lyndon

MORE SNOW-CATS, NO REPEATS FROM YESTERDAY!


----------



## Lyndon

MORE TUCKER'S :


----------



## Lyndon

"SPINE ROAD", which is esentially the "Main drag" thru the Prudhoe Bay Oilfield. Here renamed RT 66, after Phiillips/Conoco took over operation.


----------



## Lyndon

One lone soldier Tucker Sno-Cat, operating at my facility, Milne Point. Have a great afternoon!


----------



## pixie

GREAT pictures  Thank you very Much !!!

The camp looks like a hotel inside. 

If you're gonna send that Tucker on down..... could you make it one with a bucket ?


----------



## Lyndon

I don't want to take over and dominate the *Snowcat Adventure & Useage* Category, especially for that poor snow cat owner that is desperately trying to sell their machine. My intent was to give those interested a bit of a glimpse of what it is really like on the "SLOPE". I won't be hogging the site for another 21 day's, but if I come across something I missed I will add it. On my 'Hitch' that I started this _tour_ of the North Slope, I didn't ever leave Milne Point, but yesterday and today I got to "travel". I just "lucked-out" that an Arctic Survey was on-going, and this Forums Forums topic area _IS SNOW CATS_. HAVE A GREAT DAY!


----------



## Lyndon

MADE YET ANOTHER TRIP TO DEADHORSE: MEETING A CRANE, FOLLOWED BY SNOW REMOVAL FROM THE 2 RECENT "BLOW's". STILL "DIGGING-OUT"


----------



## Lyndon

THE ARCTIC SIZEMIC SURVEY GUY'S ARE THE MOST AVID USERS OF TRACK-RIGS ON THE ARCTIC. THEY ALSO OPERATE THE "CAT-TRAINS", MOBILE CAMPS ON SKIIS.


----------



## Lyndon

NODWELL'S & TUCKER'S: The first row hides a second row of Nodwell & Tucker Track Vehicles.


----------



## Lyndon

THE TRANS ALASKA PIPELINE "HAUL-ROAD", LEAVING DEADHORSE.


----------



## Lyndon

-30, -50 W/windchill today. I made one final trip to deadhorse yesterday to pick up my alternate. He got his first helicopter ride from Badami. He's the one with the white "Hard-Hat" getting off the chopper.


----------



## Lyndon

Got caught behind this Rig Camp Move on the 38 mile treck back to Milne. It gives a whole new definition to "Traffic":


----------



## Bulldog1401

Would the rolligons float if they broke through thin ice? Thanks.


----------



## Lyndon

There must be some major project going on at one of the "remote" locations that is not accessable by road as I counted SEVEN, fully layden(and I Mean REALLY loaded!) Rolligons preparing for a convoy to somewhere. They carry 2000 gallons of fuel so that they can operate for a week or so with out re-fueling. Here are 5 of the Rolligons preparing to take off. I saw 2 more in another 'yard' a mile up the road. that 'Tanker', all those Containers, and a Box Truck are loaded on these rigs.  

At 1.5 to 2 Million dollars each, and with the second row of machines, which is obscured by the first row, it amounts to a sizeable investment in machinery. They are very smooth riding. Each section has a truck sized Diesel Engine that powers a massive Hydraulic pump. The "Air Bag's" each have a gnarled alloy roller pressing against the tire that is driven by a Hydraulic motor. The cab is impressive with it's 16 pressure regulators and 16 guages for each tire, a "Dual-Reading" Pyrometer that compares the exhaust temperature of the 2 engines. Instead of trying to keep the 2 engines at the same RPM's, they attempt to keep the temperatures that each engine run's at close. Not fast, but capable of carrying literally TON's over unpacked snow, like a track machine. They probably wouldn't do very well on steep, rough terraine, but up here it's comparitively flat. You know how they carry 5 gallon 'GI' gas can's on Jeep's and Army Trucks? I was really impressed by the one I rode in because it had (4), 55 Gallon 'Drum's', on each fender to the right and left of the cab and one could still stand on the fenders there was enough extra space! They are 16 feet wide! I think the single most impressive thing is that I have never seen one anywhere else before.


----------



## Lyndon

You just _HAD TO ASK!_. YOU KNOW NOW YOU'VE JUST OPENED UP A REAL CAN OF WORMS! Rolligons were manfactured by the ROLLIGON company for the US Millitary shortly after the Korean war. They were steel and loosly resemble the current machines. AND  THEY WERE AMPHIBIUS! Designed to work in Swamps. But they never caught on with the millitary. Many of the early military one's used to sit at an Army Surplus Dealer outside of Augusta Ga. Tires, or 'Air-Bags' were almost impossible to obtain. 20 ot 30 years later, Bectel, possible the 2nd largest contractor in the world, bought out the rights when they were building the Trans Alaska Pipeline. After they left Alaska it passed thru various owners. Then somehow the original company came back to life. I don't know all the details, but they now have a website that shows some of their earliest attemps. If someone out there finds it, set up the linc please!


----------



## Lyndon

I don't know if I covered this before, but we vertually never have anything go "thru" the ice. That's because 1) at 300 miles North of the Arctic Circle it's a bunch colder than where the ICE ROAD TRUCKERS show takes place. 2) our water is shallow, and freezes solid. 3) The bottom's of our lakes, ponds, and the Ocean floor, are Perma-Frost. So what you have is Ice, resting on more Ice. Not much oppertunity to go thru anything here. 4) The Corps of Engineers, "God, over the Ice Roads", won't let us even start building Ice Roads untill there has been a certain amount of snow cover, and the temperature had been below a certain threshold for a specific duration of time. We had a drill rig, about 2,000,000 Lbs, go thru the Sea Ice road to Alpine in 2000, but the 5 foot thick ice only sank about 4 feet and came to rest on the ocean floor, so all that happened was the tires of the rig got wet. They successfully backed the rig up onto solid Ice, and laid out "Rig Matt's" to re-inforce the Ice, and went around the bad spot without any further problems. It was 23 or 26 miles to Alpine over the Sea Ice road. Later that same winter we transported 15 MODULES, weighing up to 3000 Ton's( 6 million Lbs) over the same Sea Ice road without a problem. The duration of our Ice Road complex, sometimes as much as 300 miles, is usually 2 months longer than the ones that serve the Yellow Knife mine and BMP in the NWT(Northwest Territory). ARCO, the original developer of the Alpine, insured the Modules with LLoyds of London. Lloyds, put a bonified, Ice Road Engineer, who had a degree in Ice Roads, to oversee the project. He instructed the construction company building and maintaining the Sea Ice road to layer on an additional 5 feet of ice around where we previously had trouble. There wasn't even the slightest hint of a problem. In the 15 years I've been up here I only know of one other case of a D9 Cat going thru the ice. It's not so much that it Doesn't happen or Can't happen, it's more of a 'We Don't Let It Happen' cautionary approach. The Oil companies in Alaska probably take "Safety" to further extreems than any other industry, certainly any that I have worked in. Our "Safety Culture" is a rigerously enforced program. It makes it a great place to work.


----------



## Lyndon

This gives a more concise history of Rolligon. I was surprised to learn that it originated from a trip to Alaska by the inventor. 

http://www.petroleumnews.com/pntruncate/6447008.shtml


----------



## Lyndon

some NEAT old video of Rolligon in this LINC:

http://albeerolligon.com/


----------



## Lyndon

The LINC at the top of Post # 332 has outrageous, older video footage, including driving the machine over a person. I also stand corrected, aparently they CAN navigate difficult terraine, contrary to my earlier posting.


----------



## mattfidaho

Lyndon said:


> The LINC at the top of Post # 332 has outrageous, older video footage, including driving the machine over a person. I also stand corrected, aparently they CAN navigate difficult terraine, contrary to my earlier posting.




That is just COOL!. I want one


----------



## Lyndon

Most of the rolligons are back from making their remote delivery. Between 15 & 20 Million$, for the 10 machines in these 2 photos. 



Your gonna love the next story: *THE CONDOR'S NEST*


----------



## MNoutdoors RIP

If anyone is looking for some we have three for sale ......... way under 1.5 million  not even close.   but not near as big either  I will get the photos 
this is the Baby as it is very small in comparison to the the others they all float


----------



## MNoutdoors RIP

OK finally got around to posting these units they were people haulers


----------



## Lyndon

Alaska's Mt. Redoubt volcano erupted several times late Sunday and early Monday, sending an ash plume nearly 12 miles into the air, the Alaska Volcano Observatory reported.

The Anchorage Daily News reported that a fifth eruption took place at about 4:30 a.m. Alaska Daylight Time (AKDT), or 8:30 a.m. EDT.

The National Weather Service detected ash from the fifth eruption at 60,000 feet, far higher than most commercial jetliners fly.

Fine gray dust was falling Monday morning on small communities north of Anchorage, though the state's largest city itself was spared.

"It's coming down," Rita Jackson, 56, said early Monday morning at a 24-hour grocery store in Willow, about 50 miles north of Anchorage

The "Shared Services flights", BP/Conoco/Phillips 737's on the very first post of this thread, got turned around in mid flight, and went back to Anchorage this morning. So some unhappy Oilworkers are stranded at the Anchorage Airport, and some even Unhappier folks didn't get to go out on R & R!


----------



## Lyndon

*PIPELINE!* It's finally warmed up enough for the Pipeline construction crew to go back to work. It's -22, -41 with the windchill but rapidly warming. These first 2  pictures are of a side Boom Pipelayer and a "Caribou Shack" the welders hut. The pipe has already been welded and is getting coated and insulated here. Today is March 23, 2009.


----------



## Lyndon

The smaller pipe is "Water-IN", for water injection INTO the oil formation. The larger pipe is Oil Out from the wells. This system serves 4 pads and is about 6 miles long.


----------



## Lyndon

A Caribou Shack being "Picked":


----------



## Lyndon

This Tall VSM (Verticle Support Member) will carry the pipes up out of the rack and over to a UTILADOR, an underground chase-way that passes under the road.


----------



## Lyndon

This is the "Lay-Down" area, for construction material storeage. It's 500' by 900' built entirely on a frozen lake. This lake is frozen solid to the Perma frost.


----------



## Lyndon

A Tanker "Laying Ice". It's re-inforcing the road.


----------



## Lyndon

Here 4 machines are preparing to pick up a length of pipe and set it on the VSM's.


----------



## Lyndon

And here's the *"PICK"*


----------



## Snowcat Operations

This is the "OTHER" reason gas is expensive.  It takes allot of man power and cash to get the crude to be processed!  Thank you LYNDON!  These are excellent pictures and gives us a better understanding of what goes on in Alaska.


----------



## bczoom

Lyndon,  Great thread.  Thanks!!!


Lyndon said:


> The smaller pipe is "Water-IN", for water injection INTO the oil formation.


Can you tell us more about the water-in processing?  In particular, is freezing an issue?  Do I assume correctly you use sea water and pump it at a relatively high speed to keep it from freezing?


----------



## Lyndon

bczoom said:


> Lyndon,  Great thread.  Thanks!!!
> 
> Can you tell us more about the water-in processing?  In particular, is freezing an issue?  Do I assume correctly you use sea water and pump it at a relatively high speed to keep it from freezing?



OK. Here's a quick 'Primer' on Oil recovery:
Imagine you are drilling into a ballon that is pressurized and two thirds full of liquid. Initially the pocket of oil and gas is pressurized. sometimes as high as 12,000PSI. Now you stick a straw down into the oil and the pressure pushes it up to the surface. But eventually the pressure plays out so you have to pump the oil up. Oil usually comes as a mixture of sand, water, oil and gas. the sand and gravel tends to wear-out or destroy your pump.


----------



## Lyndon

Rather than pumping it out of the formation, it's more practicle to Keep the formation pressurized. So we have massive gas turbines, that drive huge pumps. These often range in the 20,000 to 50,000 HP Range. As Oil floats on Water, we layer in water under the oil and esentially "float" it up and out. This also prevents the formation from collapsing. Besides the water we also use Natural gas to keep the formation pressurized. We DON't use Sea Water. Between the Salts and the Algea, it tends to generate H2S (Hydrogen Sulfide) some really nasty stuff. H2S is:1)Leathelly Toxic in just a 1% mixture, 2)Explosive, it doesn't just burn good, it explodes!, 3) Highly corrosive. this tends to eat up your pipe. So the answer is to De-salinate the water, essentially Distill it.


----------



## Lyndon

The water goes thru insulated, and heat traced pipes to prevent freezing. The oil, which is hot when it comes out of the ground, also get's heat traced and insulated. We even further heat the oil to make it easier to transport. There are some pictures of the Oil Heaters earlier in this thread. I'll look up the Post number here shortly. 


A collection of the LOGO's of the "Players" up here.


View attachment halliburton.bmp


----------



## Lyndon

The "Post" I thought had the heaters in it has them hidden behind a snow pile! The two stacks blowing smoke in this photo are Oil Heaters. I'll get some better pic's later in the day.


----------



## Lyndon

http://www.thehawkeye.com/Story/a1054-BC-AlaskaVolcano-8thLd-Writethru-03-23-0871


----------



## teledawg

http://www.avo.alaska.edu/activity/Redoubt.php


----------



## Lyndon

Yep. NO flights today. -33 winter's still here too.
A couple of Oil Heaters.


----------



## Lyndon

Milne Point sits right on the edge of the Arctic Ocean.

This is our Road system.


----------



## Lyndon

*CFP*

*WHAT THE OCEAN LOOKS LIKE TODAY*


----------



## Lyndon

*TRACK 14*Where the pipeline job is underway. It serves all 4 pads. the little lake, just above and to the right of {2009 Tele Atlas} is where the 4 pictures of the "Lay-Down" yard in Post #343 were taken yesterday.


----------



## Lyndon

The "Pad" that CFP sits on is to the left of the orange markers on the left side of this photo. All this snow is on Tundra, beyond the Pad. The pad is 6 to 8 feet above the level of the Tundra. where I'm parked to take this picture my truck is sitting on about 10 to 12 feet of packed snow. the far right side of the snow pile is about 30 feet abouve the tundra. This snow pile covers several acres. Today our equipment operators got an award for doing the best snow removal job in Prudhoe! Go Loader Bob!


----------



## Lyndon

There's an Arctic Seismic Survey in progress in another part of Prudhoe right now. Lots of Tracked and Wheeled snow equipment. we had one last year and it's covered in Alaska Cat Trains :http://www.forumsforums.com/3_9/showthread.php?t=8614


----------



## Lyndon

*BIGGER IN ALASKA?*

One of my fellow inspectors, up here in Prudho, just bought an ST4 and joined the Forumsforum. He just e-mailed me these photos. Check out this Moose. He's REAL, not air brushed in or photo shoped.


----------



## NorthernRedneck

Yikes!  That thing is big!  (I know, I know....my wife said the same thing on our second date)  

Anyways, that is one huge moose!  Thanks for sharing.


----------



## mattfidaho

groomerguyNWO said:


> Yikes!  That thing is big!  (I know, I know....my wife said the same thing on our second date)
> 
> Anyways, that is one huge moose!  Thanks for sharing.



I would have thought the beer gut size would have came up on the first date.  


Have him go walk up next to it so we have a size to compare to.  LOL


----------



## Lyndon

-1 Deg F, -20 W/windchill. snowing and blowing. Through out this thread I showed stuff about Doyan Rig 14, it drilling, it being knocked down and rolling out of Milne Pt., pictures of it's camp and support modules, all headed to Bedami. Also on post # 328 I showed a group of rolligons. The far left hand machine with the Tank. Well Discovery Channel just released a documentary that starts out where I left off. Aparently I took the pictures while they were at dinner. there are shots of the rig camp and the sea ice road construction, and the entire trip that the rolligon made to refule some remote aircraft depot. Things are alot more laid back and routine than they try to make it sound. Of course they are trying to get shock effect. For the rolligons they make it sound like it's life on the line, when in reality, we have a dozen helicopters, 20 more rolligons, and over 100 snow cats that could rescue them in 20 minutes. See it, you'll like it! now on to:*THE CONDORS NEST*


----------



## Lyndon

*THE CONDORS NEST*
Condors are the largest flying birds in the northern hemisphere according to wikipedia.

But that's not what were looking for. Remember, this is a 'Snow Cat' forum. when I first started working up here, I once saw a rather unique tundra capable bucket truck servicing some power lines. I took a few photos with a 35 MM camera, but it didn't have a telephoto lense. When I went to develop the pictures, it was but a dot on the landscape. For some years I kept my eye out for it. But specialty equipment of this nature usually get's housed inside. the Prudhoe oilfield is 558 sq miles, making it the largest oilfield in North America. Kuparuk, at 200 Sq. Mi. holds second place. There are 7 others of smaller size, such as Milne, which only covers 94 Sq.Mi. The total area is something closer to 1000 Square Miles, and the elusive Condor could live in any of hundreds of buildings spread across the vast area.


----------



## Lyndon

This is CPS, *Central Power Systems*, the largest powerhouse in Alaska. They have a very popular LOGO and I bumped into a guy the other day wearing one of the hats. I asked him where they store the Condor? He said: " In the Condor's Nest, over by GC1, near Twin Towers"


----------



## Lyndon

So first chance that I had some ligimate business over that way I stopped by "Twin Towers", and located the Condors Nest. The lettering was old and faded, years of 70MPH snow storms had all but sandblasted the name off the building. it was -38 out, -60 with the windchill when I took these pictures.






This is one of the few places that the power crosses over a road. Everywhere else it goes underground. This is so that large loads such as Oil Drill Rigs can pass. 
Now I've found it! What? It's not there, drat! some old water tanker was parked in it's place!


----------



## Lyndon

I did some upgrading of the fire detection systems at CPS many years earlier, I'll just go there and ask. The lineman are just finishing up a safety meeting and point me to the correct building complex some miles away. 
Found em!





This Delta 3 Condor is a 6 By 6 with tundra tires, and has a 90 foot reach. taking pictures inside didn't do it justice. As always, with Prudhoe, it's a "crew-cab".


----------



## Lyndon

But the Condor has a new "Big Sister". It has a 125' working height!


----------



## Lyndon

AND it has 'Nose Art' like B17 bombers had!


----------



## Lyndon

Here it is in action:


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## Lyndon

Somehow I remembered it as being bigger, but it had been a long tome since I originally saw it, and then it was at a distance. Today one of the lineman told me: "Oh, you mean the BIG Condor, it's over in bulding such and such". 
I've been it the electrical trade some 30 years, and have worked out of 120' baskets alot, but this machine is certainly one of the largest I have ever seen. It has a 170 Foot "Stick". Enjoy.


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## Lyndon

*THE CONDORS NEST STARTS AT POST 364*


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## XeVfTEUtaAqJHTqq

More great stuff - thanks!


----------



## mattfidaho

WOW once again, 

I don't think I would want to be in one of the buckets when any type of wind starts up LOL


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## Lyndon

*PREPARING A BRIDGE FOR THE SPRING SNOW MELT* What they are doing here is plowing out all of this past winters snow from under a bridge crossing. the actual snow melt is still quite a ways off. We will still likely get several more snow storms, and some further drifting, so often all this work has to be redone.


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## Snowcat Operations

groomerguyNWO said:


> Yikes! That thing is big! (I know, I know....my wife said the same thing on our second date)
> 
> Anyways, that is one huge moose! Thanks for sharing.


 





Thats funny she said the same thing to me on our first date!


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## pixie

A bucket truck with tracks !!! 

Thanks for the great pictures !

Are they digging out the snow because the spring run off is dramatic ? I mean; does it melt quickly or flood much ? Or is there just a build up of snow under the bridge from plowing ?


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## Snowcat Operations

Lyndon said:


> *BIGGER IN ALASKA?*
> 
> One of my fellow inspectors, up here in Prudho, just bought an ST4 and joined the Forumsforum. He just e-mailed me these photos. Check out this Moose. He's REAL, not air brushed in or photo shoped.
> View attachment 34632
> 
> View attachment 34633


 





Man that things as big as a moose!


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## XeVfTEUtaAqJHTqq

Snowcat Operations said:


> Thats funny she said the same thing to me on our first date!



You guys had to date her?


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## Lyndon

pixie said:


> A bucket truck with tracks !!!
> 
> Thanks for the great pictures !
> 
> Are they digging out the snow because the spring run off is dramatic ? I mean; does it melt quickly or flood much ? Or is there just a build up of snow under the bridge from plowing ?



Yes, as this is one of those rare spots in the world where the rivers run from the south to the north, they tend to melt first in the south, then come flooding thru, north to the sea. Generally the flooding only last one to three days. It often reaches the sea when the sea is still frozen, and turns the sea ice black. The snow drifted in under the bridge from our frequent "Blows" that we get.


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## Lyndon

someone asked about how we keep the roads here? This is a Loader with a Scarifier attachment. It scratches up the ice and snow and makes the surface rougher. Once it drops below about -25, the roads become as stable as groved concrete.


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## Lyndon

Spring is appraoching. But we still have a bunch of snow. What's that condition you guy's get in the "Lower 48" called? Summer?


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## Lyndon

The Electricians,(MY Electricians!), installing a new VFD(Variable Frequency Drive). It runs a down hole pump, probably about 600 HP. Things may be slow in the job market, but were still here shipping the gas and oil that runs a percentage of the nation untill they come up with a better alternative.


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## Lyndon

This location, where the previous 3 pictures was taken, juts out in the Beaufort Sea, or arctic ocean, and is surrounded on 3 sides by the ocean. 
I'm going up to this pipe rack and get a couple picts:OH yes, that's WATER & Snow Melt, not oil below the walkway. 


Looking at the _REAL_ North Pole, across the sea ice. The Sea Ice starts just 20 feet past the road bed.


Olicktoc Point some miles across the ocean, an Oil Facility and a DEW Line Station, part of the Civil defense early warning system. Looking West.

Looking East 'Thru the Waterfall', toward Prudhoe bay. This shot is also looking across the ocean.


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## Lyndon

Off to Endicott. It's about 60 miles across prudhoe from where I am. this is stuff I passed along the way:


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## Lyndon

Usually parked inside hidden away, the Foremost, tracked 125 foot bucket truck was on my route.


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## Lyndon

Here on the "Sag" river I had to cross a deteriorating Ice bridge over the river bed. The bridge we normally drive on was being up-graded to a higher tonnage. The full name of the river is *SAGAVANIRKTOK*, but we just call it the SAG for obvious reasons.


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## Lyndon

This is the entrance to the Badami Sea Ice Road. there was some equipment there, a guard shach that one has to "badge-In" to access the 26 mile road which will also be closing soon. the last picture is the start of the 8 mile long causeway to Endicott.


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## Lyndon

Endicott at a distance.


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## Lyndon

The Facility, and a close up of the Camp. Considered one of the nicest places to be assigned to.


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## Kei

Get cold just from looking at those. lol


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## Lyndon

*ALASKA TRAFFIC JAMB!*
Right after lunch they announced on the radio that that Ice bridge was closing in 2 hours and I had to high tail it out before I became stranded. Next I got stuck behind this Rig crossing the Kuparuk river, same one I met earlier in the morning on my way to Endicott. There is only one road over this river. It has 3 bridges for 3 channels,  but the actual width of the Kuparuk is about 1 & 1/4 miles. For one or two days in the spring during snow melt the 3 bridges are completely submerged as well as the rest of the road making it impassable. Here I was stuck behing the rig for 3.5 hours waiting for it to cross and get to a wide enough spot to allow traffic to pass. In the last photo one can see the "Rig Mats". they are 10 foot by 20 foot, steel encased Oak to reinforce the surface. They are 4 inches thick and for Pick-up like I'm driving getting up on them is like driving over a curb because they are stacked 2 high.


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## Lyndon

Kei said:


> Get cold just from looking at those. lol



Actually it was just above freezing, and even with the heat off, and the window rolled down I was sweating profusely from the sun heating the cab of the truck. a person walks faster than the rig moves. It's just above freezing right now.


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## mattfidaho

I was surprised to see a 2000xl tucker there.... I would haver thought they would use the bigger 2000..   cool to see.


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## Lyndon

*Midnight, longest day of the year*

It snowed all day the 20th of June. These pictures taken Fathers day *NEAR MIDNIGHT!* longest day of the year. Our "HI" has not yet reached 50 Deg's F. The ground was just warm enough to melt the new falling snow as it fell, but trucks and light colored areas had about 1/8 of an inch of snow after a steady 24 hrs of snowing. Really tiny flakes. All gone now.


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## Lyndon

The Prudhoe Bay Oil field covers about a thousand square miles. Milne Point, is just 94 Sq. Miles of that. On the Milne Pt. Lease there are currently roughly 1 million ducks. So the Greater Prudhoe basin would have about 10 Million. The Prudhoe bay oil field is only 1/30th of the whole Patroleum Reserve. That puts the total wild fowl up in just this portion of Alaska(an area about the size of Ohio, or Indiana) at about 300 Million ducks. So does Oil come from Duck shit?


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## Lyndon

More wild fowl.


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## Lyndon

Put in a 16 Hour day yesterday, computers were down all day. Lousy when you are trying to do a bunch of documentation. We are in a "Sllow-Down" mode where we are repairing and up-grading equipment. The compressor Module, Mod 55 was shut down and the Operator allowed me to take photos as the ultra sensitive UV Fire detectors were bypassed. 
The first compressor is reffered to as " Little B". It's 4 stage, looks like a giant VW flat 4 Air Cooled engine, but a bit bigger. It compresses natural gas to about 2800 PSI. The electric motor is "Water Cooled".


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## Lyndon

There are 4 compressors in Mod 55. Little A, and Little B are both 600 HP. Big A, and Big B are both 3000 HP. From one head to the opposite head is just over 25 feet. The Crank is about 12 feet long. Various shots of Big B. It's pretty well hidden by various other vessels and pipes.


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## Lyndon

More shots of "BIG B"


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## Lyndon

A couple of my electricians celebrating after fininshing the installation of some new instrumentation in the Gas Scrubber, and De-Liquidizer, also in Mod 55. While this was going on our Flare had a neat little Hart shaped flame as we were buring off surplus gas with much of our process equipment "down".


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## pixie

Great pictures !! Thanks


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## Lyndon

Good Morning: It's about 45 Degrees out, overcast, kind of a 'blah' Sunday. I couldn't finish yesterdays postings because one of our main turbines died. We lost all power and went "Off-line". Only the Camp had back-up power and all the offices were in the dead. Normally if they go to start one of the big Gas Compressors from the previous posting, all work is suspended at the process facility, security with lights flashing on their trucks are posted about 500 feet from that area and no one except essential personel is allowed anywhere near it. The estimated "blast-Radius", the area that would be destroyed if the Gas module blew up, is about 700 feet, which includes my office. All is well now. 

These next 4 pictures are of the spot where one of the Ice Roads started last winter. this was the Ice road for the construction of the New Above Ground Pipeline. The last 2 photos is how it looks today. It's hard to believe it's the same spot, yet I took the pictures within about 20 feet of the same spot. As you can see there is NO sign of damage to the tundra. The ponds and water look just like they did last year.


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## Melensdad

So since you are posting I'm guessing the turbine did not blow!

For whatever it is worth, its not such a nice day here in Indiana.  Overcast skies, temps expected to reach 72 but we are in the lower 60's now, certainly not swimming pool weather! 

SEVERAL POSTS UP the thread you have a picture of a red truck with some really wide tires.  Are those single tires that wide or are they doubled up to make them that wide?  Any clue on the size of those tires?

Also, for just the regular vehicles with standard tires (is there such a thing as standard tires up there) do you deflate them a bit and run them on really low air pressures?  Or are they designed to run on low air pressure?  Or do you run them at pressures similar to what we run?  I'm just guessing that you run them on low pressures for floatation like we run agricultural tractor tires at lower pressures.


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## Lyndon

There are two distinct families of Tundra tire "Rig's". Those made by Rolligon, and those made by Nodwell/Foremost. The Rolligon's call their tires an "Air-Bag", they run up to 80" wide and are driven by a roller that presses against the top. The roller is driven by a Hydraulic motor, one on every wheel. If you go back a ways in this thread there is quite a bit about the Rolligon company, and some lincs with video of their development.

The Nodwell/Foremost "rig's" have tires up to about 60 inches wide. They are driven in the conventional way using a differential. 

Both famlies of vehicles can run on unpacked snow. Both are slow, and run very low air pressure on the tires. In Rolligons, each Airbag has it's own pressure regulator and is maintained at a specific very low inflation pressure. One or more of the linc's on Rolligons shows the interior of the cab with it's array of guages and pressure regulators. The Rolligon's tend to be a bit wider at 14 to 16 feet wide.


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## Lyndon

Real busy up here right now. Have a bad cold to boot. Here's some picts:

A few birds and the Flare during an "Up-Set"


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## Lyndon

On the way to Endicott today:
Musk Ox, and Swans.


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## Lyndon

Since everything is frozen over so much of the year this little fire boat only get to see service for about one month of the year. This is the one month! It is used to aireate the water.


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## Lyndon

We are real serious about Firehouses up here. This is PBOC's 24 Bay.
Also a "Crash-Truck".


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## Lyndon

The Delta/Foremost Tundra tire's bucket truck, 90 ft. Was parked outside nearby. all the previous pictures of this machine were inside. It does pretty good in the snow.


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## Lyndon

About 15 miles away to the west, this is BOC's fire House. Each bay is fairly long and has 2 machines stored in tandem. That BUS is the Mobile Command Center, and has a complete communications center with satellite linc's and several computer stations, PBOC and Kuparuk also have similar Mobile Command Centers.


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## Lyndon

Our Firehouse, at Milne, is one of the smallest. It has drive thru Bay's and houses more equipment than what's shown. We also have a Real Fire training center. It's pictured elsewhere in this thread, probably a Winter picture. It's a bunch of Connex's welded together in a 2 story arraingement. Diesel fuel is piped in from underground so the training fires are very real. We only do the real fire training once a year. Their are limitations on our air/emissions permit. It can be seen for 20 miles. Only a few people actually fight the fire, but a large contingent of Medical and First Aid people are standing by at the ready.


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## Lyndon

Just Pictures:


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## Lyndon

Summer visitors:


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## Lyndon

Yesterday was our first "Sunset" in the last 2 months. The Sun went down for roughly 2 minutes!


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## thetinker

Thanks a bunch for all the photos of the wildlife. It sheds a truthful spotlight on our awareness of healthy co-existence in a strong eco-aware nature of the oil industry (not like the distorted views from mainstream media and documentary sensationalists). 

The images of the fire suppression equipment are truely impressive. It leaves me wondering how much foam would be stored on site in the anticipation (heaven forbid) of a working fire at a fractured wellhead or drill rig incident in PBOC's response area? I can probably do th math to estimate this, but it would be an interesting statistic.

Thanks again Lyndon for the detailed account in this entire thread, it is a modern historical account. I really appreciate the insight.

As always, be well and safe.

Ian.


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## Lyndon

*Re:GOOOOOD MORNING SNOW CAT FORUM MEMBERS!*

*ALL RIGHT!!, IT'S ABOUT 10 DEGREES OUT AND A PARTIAL PHASE ONE !!SNOWING HARD!! GET THOSE SKIIS OUT, CRANK UP THAT SNOW CAT!!  I LOVE IT!*Maybe some pictures after it gets light out. Had to fight my way thru a bunch of drifts this morning! This usually means that in a few days y'all down in the Lower 48 will be gittin it!


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## Erik

our forecast calls for low 70's today & tomorrow, rain Wednesday, and high 40's on Thursday, so you're pretty spot on with that "on the way" prediction.


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## Snowtrac Nome

OMG the tree huggers are going to protest these pic's you posted might even say they are altered you see you are showing that the animale dont care about oil develipment in the north especialy the caribue


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## Lyndon

*Re: Today's pictures*

The Wildlife have all split! And they left early, so likely a serious winter. The Caribou should be about halfway thru Canada by now. The Ducks and geese are in the south too. 
I like seeing the pictures of Nome. A mechanic that I worked with in Fairbanks and on the slope for some years, was from there and grew up there. His name was Homer, and we called him the "Gnome from Homer" when actually he was "Homer from Nome". He related some interesting stories about operating the Power Plant there in Nome, and scary descriptions of seeing mosquitoes that looked like smoke coming out of the ground!





You have a nice ST4 too. I know a bit about that model.


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## Snowtrac Nome

homers last name didn't start with a h did it if so ibet i know him


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## Lyndon

Well,.... there are some unhappy campers on the slope tonight. About 3 plane loads of folks didn't get to go home, and their replacements are sitting in the airport back 700 miles to the south also dissappointed because their flights didn't fly. The camera just doesn't do justice to the exhilarating storms we get. My little office trailer has been rocking and ratteling all day!







I tried a few of the various "Sport" and low light settings but for some reason the blowing snow just doesn't show up very well?


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## mak2

Must be so "cool" to be there.  hehe


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## Lyndon

NO, Too Cool will be in another month or so, when it gets down to 30 to 50 below, and starts blowing. The guys get "biffed" because safety won't let them go out and work! 
These first pictures are of the courtyard created by my office trailer and 2 others, so it's surrounded on 3 sides and still pretty nasty. I experimented with every setting to no avail.


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## Snowtrac Nome

closely resembals the storms we get here in nome with no trees to break the wind once it starts blowing it will roar and it can go from dead calm to that in a half hour when on a snowmobile even if you find your way home you still chance frost bite makes my case for the snowtrac for travel between comunitys and hunting nice to be in looking out


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## Lyndon

These next pictures are of the brisk little jaunt I have to make to go between my office trailer and the Camp, Process Area, Chow Hall, Bathroom,.... I've made it about 7 times today. Hold on to your hat!! At one of the Stairwell entrances to the camp there is a wind that wants to pull your hat off right as you reach the top of the stairs. It sucks your hat straight up 2 stories, over the roof of that wing of the camp and deposits your hat in the next court yard over!


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## Lyndon

I have not been to Nome, but I have been to Kotzebue, Barrow, Nuicsut, and a bunch of central alaska, and an educated guess would say that you get weather that is every bit as nasty as they do here on the slope. It's just "NORMAL" for Alaskans. Well I've put in my 12 hours, off to the chow hall, and to work out in the Gym, let's see it was Steak last night I wonder what we'll get tonight, probably Pizza!


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## Lyndon

GOOOD Morning Snow Cat People!! Our Arctic Blow has been up-graded to a full blown Blizzard, 30 to 40 MPH winds. We've already read a 59 MPH Gust this morning. It has wiped the snow off some spots right down to bare ground, other areas have drifts of substantial size. Probably NO flights today. Prudhoe Bay sits right on the edge of the Beaufort Sea. The scale that they used to rate hurricane strengths and high winds is called,... the Beaufort Scale... Both named after the same Captian. An old "T" shirt from earlier days on the 'Slope' reads: PRUDHOE BAY WIND FESTIVAL, JAN 1 THRU DEC 31...
Theres another saying in the Oil Industry: "If it's a nasty, hostile, environment then there's likely to be Oil there!" BAD Place #1: The North Sea, Bad Place # 2 The North Slope, followed by various deserts and some nasty jungles...


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## Snowtrac Nome

after a 12 month deployment to iraq i do agree its cold here but i can work around that there is no way to get away from 130 degree heat don't know how some one can live there i was stationed on the persion gulf and remembered welding at night 115 degrees and sweating so badly uder the hood i couldn't see also when the fog rold in our vehicles would sweat.


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## Lyndon

The storms over, planes are flying again. A bit of mopping up to do.


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## pixie

Hoo-Boy !! Horizontal snow !!!!

Thanks for the pictures !


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## JimVT

Lyndon,when you get back  home  I need some you to look at my bombi when you get time.
Jim


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## slowcatdriver

Great thread- I can't believe I haven't read this till now. It sure brings back old memories, as I was incarcerated at Milne Point for the month of January back in about '92. I had it easy though, manning the medical clinic- I think I saw only 3 patients the entire month. I spent a lot of time preparing for the "big one", reading and eating way too much (the food was incredible!). I went for a walk one evening at -44* with a wind chill of -85*. As we say here in Alaska- it was a tad nippy. Thanks again.


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## rebel112r

Great pics and info on the Slope..I too served my time, 1970- 2002..Worked for many companies, mostly CATCO, driving Rolligons, here, there and everywhere..Looks like Crowley has some competition, now that Peak has had some rigs built...Don't need the slope and the cold anymore!! What is going on at Badami these days, was pretty much shut down, when I left, although the camp was open...Also a bunch of work at Pt. Tompson...


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## Lyndon

*Re: PHASE III*

Happy New Year! it's -10 to -20 out, Ambient temp that is, with 30 to 50 MPH winds and windchills into the -55 range. This is a true Phase 3 condition. All work is stopped, no permits issued, and you can't leave the camp or drive around. But our 2 big 30,000 HP GE Turbines are still running and we are still pumping about 25,000 to 30,000 Bbls of oil. 



Looking out the window of my room at the camp:


Some Leakage around an entry door.


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## Lyndon

Looking out the front of the Camp:








The roughly 300 people trapped here will: Watch TV, Play on computers, go thru boring safety training, eat, play pool,... but the "UP-SIDE" is that we all get paid!


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## Lyndon

The parking lot & the plant:







Just barely visable in front of the Tanker is a Road Grader, just behind that is my office.


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## snowbird

The wind chill was a balmy -22 F this morning here in southern (read that warmer than Alaska) Minnesota.


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## Lyndon

*Re: PHASE II*

We've been down graded to "Phase 2", "Convoy Only". 
This is the west side of camp where the drifting was the worst. Notice the cords? Not hangind exactly straight? Still blowing a bit.


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## Lyndon

Things are drifted in pretty good. We'll be 'digging-out' for a couple of days. We'll be 'Operational' in a day, but our 2 laoders, 2 snow blowers, and grader and dozer, will be working 24/7 for a week to actually clean up the road system and 15 "Pads". It's about 30 + miles of roads and each of the pads is between 2 to 6 football fields in size. 
One can just faintly pick out the square stack of one of our 20 Meggawatt turbines in one of the pictures.


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## Melensdad

The History Channel was running an all day marathon of the show ICE ROAD TRUCKER and I had it tuned in for a while.  My wife asked me why I was watching it and I pulled up this thread to show her your photos.  From what I can tell, the truckers who run the 'ice road' have it pretty good because they stay off the roads when the weather like these photos hits.  

Thanks for the continual updates, its certainly an interesting thing to see, even if we rarely have anything to contribute.


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## Lyndon

The is the 'East Side' of the Camp and Plant. It's less windy as is evident from the cords. So which truck is a blue truck? White?, Red?



ANS: Almost all the trucks are blue, except the Box Trucks, they are mostly white. 
I obviously have too much time on my hands,.. been thinking of initiating an new thread: *Kristi Jokes* or maybe *Kristi Banter*, maybe sell squares on a 'foot ball' type lottery to see when it reaches 10,000 "views"!


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## Snowtrac Nome

Lyndon said:


> The is the 'East Side' of the Camp and Plant. It's less windy as is evident from the cords. So which truck is a blue truck? White?, Red?
> View attachment 40645
> 
> View attachment 40646
> ANS: Almost all the trucks are blue, except the Box Trucks, they are mostly white.
> I obviously have too much time on my hands,.. been thinking of initiating an new thread: *Kristi Jokes* or maybe *Kristi Banter*, maybe sell squares on a 'foot ball' type lottery to see when it reaches 10,000 "views"!


 the krusty jokes are uplifting and big al's come backs can be just as good but you have to congradulate some one who under takes a restoration of a rig that is so rare.


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## Lyndon

Having owned a Kristi myself I can definatively state that taking on the restoration of one of these is a much greater challenge than a Snow Trac, Bombardier, or Tucker. There's NO Parts source! AND Big Al's 'Retorts' are worth there weight in gold!


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## Snowtrac Nome

Lyndon said:


> Having owned a Kristi myself I can definatively state that taking on the restoration of one of these is a much greater challenge than a Snow Trac, Bombardier, or Tucker. There's NO Parts source! AND Big Al's 'Retorts' are worth there weight in gold!


 you used to own a kristi what happened got drunk and took one home wwhat did you name her moped a whole lot of fun to ride till your frindes see you .


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## NorthernRedneck

dds said:


> you used to own a kristi what happened got drunk and took one home wwhat did you name her moped a whole lot of fun to ride till your frindes see you .





That's about right. Driving a Krusty is just like sleeping with a fat chick or riding a moped.  It's all fun till your friends find out about it.


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## Snowtrac Nome

nutten like a good krusty joke


----------



## BigAl RIP

dds said:


> nutten like a good krusty joke


 
Go ahead guys .... Laugh it up ... You have all been added to my "Let them walk" list when you need to be saved by my trusty old Kristi KT7 .

I have a bar in the back and guess who ain't getting no free drinks ?????
Not so funny now ...huh.....
You can also forget about the hotdogs too ! 

Think I am kidding ???It all fits in this nice little compartment in the last picture !!!

Now the only laughter seems to be coming from me


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## Snowtrac Nome

hey Al i like your iv coms system is that part of the kisty or was that something you did to pimp your krusty i would like to get some thing like that for my slow trac


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## Snowtrac Nome

groomerguyNWO said:


> That's about right. Driving a Krusty is just like sleeping with a fat chick or riding a moped. It's all fun till your friends find out about it.


 big al should add this to his signature .


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## Lyndon

*Re: Isn't it a "Beauty"*

Today on the "SLOPE":




Portable "Tioga-Heaters", handy in the Arctic. we have 35 here at Milne.
Check out the mobile rig camp behind the snow cat.


----------



## Lyndon

Nice Paint!


----------



## Lyndon

Nice "Hunting Camp" out in front of my office.


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## JimVT

even comes with a spare tire.


----------



## OregonShooter

Do you get to see much of the NDT guys? I work in X-ray doing inspection on aerospace castings and was wondering what equipment they used on the slope.

 We are currently in a transition to digital X-ray. Most of our work is done with 320-420kV X-ray tubes in block houses. No Live source work.

 Thanks it's been a very informative read!


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## Snowtrac Nome

my guess their stuff is done like our tanks are done  here with a live source


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## Lyndon

Don's assessment is correct. Live Source. You do it for a few years then graduate to reading film and documentation,... in the office and let the younger generation get exposed!

Just finished a 28 day 'hitch', it's abot 31 below with the wind chill. Actually looking forward to the 2500 mile commute!


----------



## Lyndon

It snowed 3 inches this morning, it is *JUNE 7TH!*


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## Lyndon

Back at the start of this thread there was a map of alaska showing Milne Points location in Alaska, and how far north it is. As previously stated, MPU covers 94 Square miles and is a Bird Sanctuary, at least in the Summer. We have somewhere between 100,000 to 500,000 birds, mostly water fowl. Canadian Geese are number one, but we get a lot of other species as well.


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## Lyndon

The Prudhoe Bay Oilfield is just a minute part of the "North Slope Borough". The Borough is the largest county in the United States. IF it were a State, it would be the 10 largest state in the union, but as a County it is larger than half of California, the 3rd largest state. It covers some 95,000 Square Miles, roughly the size of Oregon, and only has a population of 8000 permanent inhabitants. There are more than 10 square miles and 16 lakes for each alaskan that lives here. And there are probably somewhere around 100 to 500 Million Birds!


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## DAVENET

OK Lyndon, after a year of being silent you finally post up on steering wheels.  How about some more of your exploits from the deep freeze, dark north?


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## 3512b

Yup good to see you back at least looking
we looking at retrieving some more St4 from inside deeps darks  Alaska.....
stories to come as they develop


----------

