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21 Days North of the Arctic Circle
- Thread starter Lyndon
- Start date
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.
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.
mattfidaho
New member
I was surprised to see a 2000xl tucker there.... I would haver thought they would use the bigger 2000.. cool to see. 
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.
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.
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?
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".
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".
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.
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".
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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!
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