TAPS crews wrap up repairs to storm-damaged Right of Way

The punishing rains and subsequent floods that hit the Valdez area a year ago also damaged terrain along the pipeline Right of Way.

Storms hit some 80 miles of the pipeline’s path, and while the integrity of the pipeline itself withstood the weather, the floods wrenched bridges from supports, twisted rivers and creeks off course, and sent timber, rocks and debris surging through narrow canyons. Low-water crossings along the Right of Way that were designed for vehicle and fish passage were swamped and destroyed. Other parts of the work pad were washed out and covered with debris.

Alyeska is required through various permits and policies to maintain access to the pipeline Right of Way, so that crews can always reach the pipe for maintenance or in case of emergency. So the October 2006 floods left TAPS crews with a huge repair job.

Construction Manager Tom DeMattia, pictured at right, compared it to building and repairing 80 miles of dirt road – across canyons and mountains, streams and rivers, dealing with some of the most challenging terrain along the pipeline. A repair team made up of about 20 members worked on the project throughout the summer and into the fall. The project carries a roughly $16 million price tag over a two-year period. While much of the labor was carried out during the summer, crews are scheduled to remain in the field through mid-November.

“A project like this depends on team work, and we had an outstanding group working on this all summer and now into the fall,” DeMattia said. “It couldn’t have happened without them.”

The flooding started October 10, 2007, and hit the Valdez area hard. Water washed out entire sections of road, closing many sections of the Richardson Highway, including ravaged roadbed in the narrows of Keystone Canyon. The storm also shut down Dayville Road to the Valdez Marine Terminal. Key personnel had to be ferried across the bay to get to work.

A year later, damage from the storm is still visible around Valdez, and from the highway leading out of town. Rivers and creeks now flow in newly channeled paths that formed with the storm surge. Stripped tree trunks and massive boulders are piled up along and near waterways, discarded by flood waters.