It took over 70,000 men and women to design and construct the trans-Alaska pipeline, beginning when the first piece of 48-inch pipe was laid at the Tonsina River on March 27, 1975. Construction was completed on May 31, 1977.

The first barrel began its journey through the pipeline June 20, 1977. The oil arrived in Valdez on July 28, 1977 and the first tanker of oil departed the terminal on August 1, 1977.Since start-up, the trans-Alaska pipeline has transported over 13.5 billion barrels of crude oil. When oil production was at its peak, the pipeline averaged over 2.1 million barrels per day. At present, approximately 1 million barrels of oil per day move through the line. Over 17,000 tankers have been loaded, carrying crude oil primarily to the West Coast market.

The men and women who designed, built and run the trans-Alaska pipeline have a shared history of pioneering pipeline technologies. Some of these technologies - which are now incorporated in the design and construction of many pipelines around the world - include arctic design for protecting permafrost, wildlife crossings, and earthquake, leak and corrosion detection. TAPS engineers were also pioneers in the fields of pipeline and valve maintenance, tanker vapor recovery, spill prevention and response, and improving oil flow through drag reducing agents.

For the past 25 years, the pipeline has been available to transport oil an average of 99.6% of the time. The owners of the pipeline system have applied to operate the pipeline for another 30 years.