Snowcat Operations
Active member
I LOVE that shop! Have them deliver it (for free please) to my back yard!
-
Please be sure to read the rules and adhere to them. Some banned members have complained that they are not spammers. But they spammed us. Some even tried to redirect our members to other forums. Duh. Be smart. Read the rules and adhere to them and we will all get along just fine. Cheers. :beer: Link to the rules: https://www.forumsforums.com/threads/forum-rules-info.2974/
21 Days North of the Arctic Circle
- Thread starter Lyndon
- Start date
Lyndon
Bronze Member
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.
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
Bronze Member
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
Bronze Member
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
Bronze Member
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.
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
Bronze Member
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.
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
Bronze Member
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
Bronze Member
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
Bronze Member
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?