Bucking the pack ice to Prudhoe Bay
Forty-seven giant barges with a billion dollars worth of freight for the Alaska pipeline had been waiting since July 4, 1975 to proceed on through the ice to make the 300-mile run to Prudhoe Bay. Normally, easterly summer winds blow the pack ice into the Chukchi Sea where wave action breaks it up, leaving a broad highway of open water along Alaska's north coast, but the winds in 1975 failed to materialize. Ten of the barges had gone through during August and then a violent westerly storm swept in. When the storm was over, 22 barge skippers returned to Seward, and in mid-September 15 mammouth barges were ice bound. The Coast Guard was called out and with success the icebreakers and tugs began arriving with the cargo in Prudhoe Bay on September 30. The unloading of the cargo also brought difficulties, but before the cargo became frozen in, much of it was unloaded. (MCW)
- OSTI ID:
- 7355705
- Journal Information:
- Pop. Mech.; (United States), Journal Name: Pop. Mech.; (United States) Vol. 145:5; ISSN POPMA
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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