The Dalton Highway (also known as the Haul Road) is a north-south, 415-mi long, all-weather gravel road connecting Livengood with the Deadhorse airstrip at Prudhoe Bay. North of Fairbanks, the community of Livengood is connected to Fairbanks by a 75-mi section of the Elliot Highway. The Dalton Highway is the sole overland route connecting Prudhoe Bay to Alaska's other major highway systems. The Dalton Highway is 28 ft wide, with an average of 3-6 ft of gravel surfacing. Historically, only the portion of the highway from Livengood to the Yukon River Bridge (and later Disaster Creek) was open to the public. In 1995 however, the highway was opened to public access as far as the security gate at Deadhorse. Beyond the security gate, the oil roads are privately owned and maintained.

The majority of vehicles traveling the Dalton Highway are commercial freight vehicles associated with oil field activities, though privately owned vehicles and commercial tour operators also use the highway. Summer traffic levels for the Dalton (June-August) are substantially higher than traffic levels for the rest of the year. During the summer of 2000, each month's average daily traffic count at milepost 134 (the Yukon River Bridge) averaged 450 vehicles, however, the annual average daily traffic (AADT) count at the same checkpoint for the year was 245. Farther north on the Dalton Highway, AADT levels fell somewhat. The year 2000 Atigun River checkpoint AADT level was 230 (State of Alaska, Dept. of Transportation/Public Facilities, 2001).

Annual Dalton Highway truck traffic (loaded and unloaded combined) in 1996 was 45,236 trucks, with a monthly average of 3,770. While numbers of trucks increased substantially between FY 1990 and FY 1996, by 2000, monthly truck volume had fallen to approximately 2500 (State of Alaska, Dept. of Transportation/Public Facilities, 2001).

The main road within the Prudhoe Bay/Kuparuk operations area is called the Spine Road. This road provides access from Deadhorse west to the Kuparuk Base Camp and east to the Endicott oil field. Milne Point, the Oliktok field, and other satellite fields and facilities within the Prudhoe Bay/Kuparuk Operating Area are connected to the Spine Road. The newly discovered Alpine field in the Colville River delta will be connected to the Spine Road by an ice road rather than the standard gravel road. Exploratory drilling of the Alpine prospect was also assisted by ice-road connections to the Prudhoe/Kuparuk complex, with no gravel roads emplaced. The gravel roads are typically 35 ft wide and embanked approximately 5 ft above the ground.

Within Prudhoe Bay's Eastern and Western Operating Areas are approximately 200 mi of interconnected gravel roads. There are approximately 94 mi of other interconnected roads within the Kuparuk River Unit. There are also 8 mi of causeways providing access to facilities and drilling sites, including the 5-mi causeway to the satellite production and main production islands at the Endicott field. Traffic data is not available on the roads within the Prudhoe Bay/Kuparuk Operating Area.

Nuiqsut and other North Slope communities have gravel roads accessing the airstrip, housing, and community facilities. During winter, the roads are covered with ice and transportation is by cars, trucks, snow machines, and other all-terrain vehicles. During the summer, cars, trucks, and all-terrain vehicles use the roads. Data is not available for traffic volume on Nuiqsut's road system.

West of the Colville River and outside the villages described above, surface transportation routes take the form of ice roads or Rolligon trails. Map 82 depicts the winter transport routes utilized by Phillips and BPX. The map also indicates the source lakes from which water was taken to build the roads. The BPX route north to the Trailblazer exploratory well was built largely offshore. The Phillips ice roads were constructed north and west of Nuiqsut. The residents of Nuiqsut apparently have also utilized these ice roads.

There are 3 major airstrips in the Prudhoe Bay/Kuparuk area - the State-owned and operated Deadhorse airport and the privately owned and operated Prudhoe Bay and Kuparuk airstrips. The Deadhorse airport is served by a variety of aircraft and can accommodate Boeing 737 jet aircraft. This airport has an asphalt airstrip approximately 6,500 ft long by l50 ft wide. The airport has a small passenger terminal, hangars, storage warehouses, and equipment for freight handling. The annual number of passengers on scheduled flights (Alaska Airlines) into Deadhorse is estimated to be 140,000. Total annual oil and support company personnel passenger counts ranged between 205,000 and 220,000 persons from 1992 to 1996 (Ahern, 1997, pers. comm.). Aviation Shared Services transports only oil and gas industry employees, contractors, and cargoes. Commercial cargo service is also provided into Deadhorse and to satellite oil field strips. Annual freight tonnage shipped by air into the Prudhoe\Kuparuk complex is difficult to estimate. A range of 250 to 500 tons is probable, as most cargo tonnage is carried over the Dalton Highway.

The Prudhoe Bay and Kuparuk airstrips are owned and operated by Aviation Shared Services. The two airstrips at Prudhoe Bay and Kuparuk are approximately 6,500 ft long and 150 ft wide. They are used primarily by Aviation Shared Services for scheduled flights several times per week (Morrison, 1997, pers. comm.) Leased commercial aircraft transporting industry personnel (Phillips and BP Exploration employees and contractors) also use these airstrips.

Barrow has a state-owned airport with an asphalt runway approximately 6,500 ft long and 150 ft wide. This community is the transportation hub for villages on the North Slope. Alaska Airlines provides regularly scheduled jet passenger flights into Barrow from Anchorage and Fairbanks, and other air carriers offer shuttle service from Barrow to various North Slope communities. The Barrow airstrip is accessible year-round with use constraints involving severe weather, an occasionally obstructed runway, and migratory waterfowl that may be in the area during spring and fall. Available airport services include minor airframe and power-plant repairs (USDOC, NOAA, 1997). Airport facilities include 2 large hangars, storage warehouses, and equipment for freight handling.

Nuiqsut is serviced by a 4,500-ft long gravel airstrip located adjacent to the community. The airport is equipped with a rotating beacon, approach lights, high-intensity runway lights, and visual-approach slope-indicator systems. The runway is unattended and unmonitored (USDOC, NOAA, 1997). The community is served by twice-daily flights carrying passengers, cargo, and mail. These commercial flights connect it with Barrow and Deadhorse. Chartered aircraft also use the airport on a regular basis.

Unattended gravel runways serve the communities of Wainwright and Atqasuk. The Wainwright airstrip is 4,500 ft long and 90 ft wide while the Atqasuk airstrip is 4,370 ft long and 110 ft wide (USDOC, NOAA, 1997). Each airport is also equipped with a rotating beacon, approach lights, high-intensity runway lights, and visual-approach systems.

Marine transportation on the North Slope is generally freight oriented, with the exception of relatively small inboard- and outboard-engine watercraft used by villagers and less frequently by scientific research personnel. Marine transportation provides an economical means of transporting heavy machinery and other cargo with a low value-to-weight ratio. Marine shipments to the North Slope are limited to a seasonal window between late July and early September, when the arctic coast is ice-free. Port facilities on the North Slope range from shallow-draft docks with causeway/road connections to Prudhoe Bay to beach-landing areas in North Slope communities. Because there is no deepwater port, cargo ships and oceangoing barges are typically offloaded to shallow-draft or medium-draft ships for lightering to shore. Occasionally, smaller craft are used to transport cargo upriver.

Prudhoe Bay has 3 dockheads for unloading barges - one at East Dock and two at West Dock. A 1,100-ft long causeway connects East Dock to a no-longer-used 100- by 270-ft long wharf constructed from grounded barges (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and ERT, 1984). West Dock, a 13,100-ft long by 40-ft wide, solid-fill, gravel causeway runs along the northwestern shore of Prudhoe Bay east of Point McIntyre. There are 2 unloading facilities off the gravel causeway at West Dock. One facility is 4,500 ft from shore and has a draft of 4 to 6 ft. The second facility is about 8,000 ft from shore and has a draft of 8 to 10 ft. Water depths around the causeway average 8 to 10 ft (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and ERT, 1984).

Oliktok Point has another dock extending 750 ft from the original shoreline. At the dockface, water depths reach 10 ft, while the dock's boat ramp has a draft of at least 5 ft. The Oliktok facility also doubles as a seawater treatment plant (Rookus, 1997, pers. comm.).

Marine sealifts bring oil field supplies and equipment to the Prudhoe Bay/Deadhorse area as expanding or new facilities require. Arrival and off-loading are affected by sea ice. The ice-free window occurs generally from late July through early September.

There are no port facilities in Barrow. Supplies and cargo are brought into the area by barges and larger cargo ships and taken to shore by smaller vessels. Supplies are either offloaded directly onto the beach or offloaded by crane. The primary area used for offloading supplies is north of the community. Nuiqsut is roughly 18 mi upriver from the sea on a channel of the Colville River. Supplies and cargo are brought to the shoreline of the Beaufort Sea by barges and larger cargo ships and then taken upriver by smaller vessels.

As with all North Slope oil production, all potential NPR-A oil production will be transported to the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS) Pump Station No.1 for delivery to Valdez Terminal. There are several major trunk pipeline systems carrying crude oil to the TAPS - Prudhoe Bay East, Prudhoe Bay West, Milne Point, Endicott, Lisburne, Kuparuk, Badami, and Alpine. These systems combined are approximately 415 mi long and of various types of crude oil carriers. All of these pipelines are aboveground, elevated on vertical support members. Serving these major TAPS gathering lines are numerous production-pad feeder lines. Often pipelines are "bundled" with different crude and non-crude lines occupying the same right-of-way. Access roads run along each of the pipelines (except Badami and Alpine) to provide for operations, maintenance, and repair.

Crude oil produced within the Planning Area would be transported to Pump Station No. 1 through the 22- mi long Kuparuk Pipeline. Oil flow in the Kuparuk line was 343,000 bbl/day in 1992; after a decline it is expected to soon reach 335,000 bbl/day. Production from the newly discovered Alpine prospect as well as additional discoveries in the NPR-A could create a product flow in excess of the Kuparuk line's carrying capacity.

From Pump Station No. 1, the TAPS heads south for more than 800 mi to an oil-transshipment terminal at Valdez. The oil pipeline is 48 inches in diameter with a 30-ft wide work pad adjacent to it. Approximately 376 mi of the pipeline is buried to a depth of 3 to 12 ft; the other 420 mi of the pipeline runs aboveground, mounted on vertical support members.

The TAPS throughput maximum capacity is approximately 2.1 to 2.2 million bbl (MMbbl) per day; its daily throughput averaging 1.0 to 1.4 MMbbl. Declining throughput has reduced the number of pumping stations to 6, from an historical high of 11. The TAPS southern terminus is the Valdez Marine Terminal. The terminal has 18 crude oil storage tanks for a total storage capacity of 9.18 million bbl. In 1996, there were 619 loaded oil tanker departures from the Valdez terminal (Bogart, 1997, pers. comm.).

There are few transportation facilities within the NPR-A. Apart from Nuiqsut, the only facilities warranting special attention are those at Lonely, Umiat, and Inigok. Lonely is the site of a remotely controlled DEW-Line station that also doubled as an -oilfield support base for Husky Oil during the 1974 to 1982 NPR-A exploration period (Map 83). During that time, Lonely contained a well-maintained gravel runway 5,200 ft long by 150 ft wide, runway lighting and beacons, as well as navigational aids, fuel supplies, and warehouses. At the end of the Husky Oil exploration period, Husky surplussed its logistics facility at Lonely via public bid and it was purchased by Cook Inlet Region, Inc. Currently, Lonely's airport is closed and its condition is unknown. The Lonely DEW-Line station does have a short pipeline for offshore oil deliveries from tanker barges and a gravel barge-landing site (Meares, 1997, pers. comm.).

The Umiat facility is a public airstrip operated by the State of Alaska. During summer months, a private contractor maintains the airstrip; there is no winter maintenance. The field measures 5,400 ft by 74 ft, has some navigational aids and runway lights, and can accommodate Hercules-class cargo aircraft (Meares, 1997, pers. comm.). Privately owned facilities are next to the airstrip.

Inigok, the third major airstrip, is at a former Husky Oil drilling site. The airstrip, estimated at 7,000 ft by 100 ft, was constructed in 1977 and experienced its first loaded cargo aircraft (C-130) landing in June 1978. The Inigok facility is an insulated gravel airstrip. Approximately 1 ft below the gravel surface, polystyrene foam board underlies the runway. Below the foamboard, to a depth of 6 ft from the runway top, is a layer of permanently frozen sand fill (Kachadoorian and Crory, 1988). Due to the nature of its construction, the Inigok strip remains useable 18 years after its abandonment, and is routinely used by the BLM during the summer (Meares, 1997, pers. comm.).

Historically, the Inupiat have navigated from Barrow to the Nuiqsut region along a cluster of coastal and landfast ice routes, with weather and ice conditions often dictating the route used. The Inupiat travel to Teshekpuk Lake, the Colville River Delta, and Nuiqsut along these routes today. Since 1983, ice bridges have been constructed across the Colville River. The first bridge was built to facilitate drilling on a lease held by the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation. The second bridge, built by the people of Nuiqsut in 1984, helped the village respond to a fuel crisis (Smith, Copeland, and Grundy, 1985, as cited in Tremont, 1987). Since then, villagers have annually constructed an ice road from Nuiqsut to Oliktok - or to the nearest oil-exploration ice road - whichever is closer. Once sufficient thickness has been reached, the road is created by blading the snow off the river's ice cover. The road is used for the overland transport of fuel and other material; it also gives residents access to the Dalton Highway (Sec. V, North Slope Borough, Comment 1669-028).