Dalton Highway
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| Dalton Highway | |||||||||
| Length: | 414 mi (666 km) | ||||||||
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| Formed: | 1974 | ||||||||
| South end: |  Elliot Highway near Livengood |
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| North end: | North Slope Borough near Deadhorse; service road extends to Prudhoe Bay | ||||||||
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The James W. Dalton Highway, usually Dalton Highway (Alaska Route 11) is a 414-mile (666 km) road in Alaska. It begins at the Elliott Highway, north of Fairbanks, and ends at Deadhorse near the Arctic Ocean and the Prudhoe Bay oil fields. Once called the North Slope Haul Road (a name by which it is still sometimes known), it was built as a supply road to support the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System in 1974. It is named for James Dalton, an Alaska-born engineer who supervised construction of the Distant Early Warning Line in Alaska and, as an expert in Arctic engineering, served as consultant in early oil exploration in northern Alaska.
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[edit] Overview
The highway, which directly parallels the pipeline, is one of the most isolated roads in the United States. There are only three towns along the route: Coldfoot (population 13) at Mile 175,[1] Wiseman (population 22) at Mile 188,[1] and Deadhorse (25 permanent residents, 3,500-5,000 or more depending on oil production) at the end of the highway at Mile 414.[1] Gas is available at the Yukon River bridge (Mile 56), as well as Coldfoot and Deadhorse.[1]
Despite its remoteness, the Dalton Highway carries a good amount of truck traffic: about 160 trucks daily in the summer months and 250 trucks daily in the winter.[1] The highway comes to within a few miles of the Arctic Ocean. Beyond the highway's terminus at Deadhorse are private roads owned by oil companies, which are restricted to authorized vehicles only. There are, however, commercial tours that take people to the Arctic Ocean. All vehicles must take extreme precaution when driving on the road, and drive with headlights on at all times. There are quite a few steep grades (up to 12%) along the route, as well.
The highway is the featured road in the third season of the History reality television series Ice Road Truckers, airing in 2009.
[edit] Places along the Dalton Highway
- Mile 73 (km 118) Elliott Highway, mile 0 (km 0)
- TAPS Pump Station No. 6, mile 54 (km 87)
- E. L. Patton Yukon River bridge, mile 55 (km 90)
- Arctic Circle, mile 115 (km 185)
- Prospect Creek, site of the lowest recorded temperature in the United States, mile 135 (km 217)
- TAPS Pump Station No. 5, mile 137 (km 221)
- Coldfoot, mile 175 (km 282)
- Wiseman, mile 188 (km 304)
- Continental Divide (Atigun Pass, elevation 4,800ft/1,463m), mile 245 (km 394)
- TAPS Pump Station No. 4, mile 269 (km 433)
- TAPS Pump Station No. 3, mile 312 (km 502)
- TAPS Pump Station No. 2, mile 359 (km 577)
- Deadhorse, mile 414 (km 666)
[edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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