October 2017, Vol. 244, No. 10

Features

40 Years Later, Alyeska Pipeline Faces 21st Century Challenges

Since its completion in May 1977, the Alyeska Pipeline, which crosses three mountain ranges along with 34 rivers and streams, has transported over 17 billion barrels of crude oil from Prudhoe Bay en route to the Valdez Marine terminal. Now celebrating four decades of existence – a full decade longer than it was originally planned to operate – the massive $8 billion undertaking is being celebrated for strengthening America’s energy infrastructure while revolutionizing the economy of Alaska. It has rightly been hailed as a wonder of both engineering and construction ingenuity. For those involved in construction of the nearly 800-mile pipeline during the four years that preceded the fanfare a