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2lazy4U's avatar
2lazy4U
Explorer
May 22, 2015

Dalton Highway flooding

https://www.adn.com/article/20150521/epic-flooding-dalton-highway-hinders-north-slope-oil-operations

Unprecedented flooding continues to interfere with daily operations on the North Slope oil patch after surging waters wiped away swaths of the Dalton Highway and isolated a section of Deadhorse, the jumping-off point for the sprawling industrial region.

“This is just epic,” said Mike Coffey, commander of the unified incident command, a response team consisting of the state, the North Slope Borough and oil companies. “People who have been here for decades say they’ve never seen anything like it.”

Photos:

https://www.adn.com/slideshow/photos-dalton-highway-flooding

9 Replies

  • 2lazy4U's avatar
    2lazy4U
    Explorer
    May 30, 2015
    My cousin started driving the Haul Road when he was 18. He drove it for many years and is now trucking out of PHX. He says the same thing - don't bother unless you go later in the year, considering what's going on. He also said he would never take an RV up it. My aunt and uncle are in their late 80s and drive it once in awhile when they have company. They live in Fairbanks. They don't consider it a big deal, but they've lived in AK since the 50's.
  • fishhogg's avatar
    fishhogg
    Explorer
    May 30, 2015
    The projected date as of 5-29-15 is 6-5-15 for the road to open. Their are hundreds of loads to go north from Fairbanks and the same amount going south to reload. I can tell you after driving the haul road for years is you could not pay me enough to take my personal RV or any other car on that road. The road is DIRT AND ROCKS lots of ROCKS!! The damaged part of the road will be under repair all summer and Fuel will be very very expensive. No services.
  • c_traveler2's avatar
    c_traveler2
    Nomad
    May 28, 2015
    alaskan-rver wrote:
    c.traveler2 wrote:
    This Youtube video was posted May 21,2915....Dalton Flood

    My DW and I planned as part of our Alaskan journey to do the Dalton Highway to Deadhorse. Does anybody have news about how much of the Dalton highway is open to general traffic?


    Normally, the entire road to Deadhorse is open to general traffic. The current flood damage should be repaired within a week.

    If you want to go to the Arctic Ocean, you need to take a guided tour of the Prudhoe Bay oil field.


    Thanks for the information, Dead Horse Camp make those reservations for Arctic Tour which runs from May through Sept. Reaching The Arctic Ocean is on our "Bucket List", we'll be making our way up from southern California starting June 8
  • alaskan-rver's avatar
    alaskan-rver
    Explorer
    May 27, 2015
    c.traveler2 wrote:
    This Youtube video was posted May 21,2915....Dalton Flood

    My DW and I planned as part of our Alaskan journey to do the Dalton Highway to Deadhorse. Does anybody have news about how much of the Dalton highway is open to general traffic?


    Normally, the entire road to Deadhorse is open to general traffic. The current flood damage should be repaired within a week.

    If you want to go to the Arctic Ocean, you need to take a guided tour of the Prudhoe Bay oil field.
  • c_traveler2's avatar
    c_traveler2
    Nomad
    May 27, 2015
    This Youtube video was posted May 21,2915....Dalton Flood

    My DW and I planned as part of our Alaskan journey to do the Dalton Highway to Deadhorse. Does anybody have news about how much of the Dalton highway is open to general traffic?
  • Russell_Clifton's avatar
    Russell_Clifton
    Explorer
    May 27, 2015
    I started out to drive to the arctic circle last week and turned around after just 25 miles on the paved Elliot Highway. That has been the worst road conditions we have seen so far. Very bad frost heaves and the pot holes are hugh. They are measured in feet in diameter not inches. Some were so big we had to move over to the opposite lane to get around them, and about 6-8" deep. Decided it was not worth the wear and tear on the equipment. I will just settle for watching the videos on YouTube.
  • c_traveler2's avatar
    c_traveler2
    Nomad
    May 23, 2015
    In doing my research for our up coming trip to Alaska and up to Deadhorse/Prudhoe Bay I was talking to one of the mangers in Deadhorse. He told me about Dalton Road being flooded at this time, this was about May 18, he said it happens about this time of the year, but not as bad as this time and normally recedes in about a week or two.
  • Harvard's avatar
    Harvard
    Explorer
    May 23, 2015
    2lazy4U wrote:
    ClickyUnprecedented flooding continues to interfere with daily operations on the North Slope oil patch after surging waters wiped away swaths of the Dalton Highway and isolated a section of Deadhorse, the jumping-off point for the sprawling industrial region.

    “This is just epic,” said Mike Coffey, commander of the unified incident command, a response team consisting of the state, the North Slope Borough and oil companies. “People who have been here for decades say they’ve never seen anything like it.”

    Photos:

    Clicky

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