Anchorage, AK – The trans-Alaska pipeline was successfully restarted Sunday, July 11, 2004 at 1:30PM after Alyeska Pipeline Service Company completed a series of line wide maintenance projects during a scheduled pipeline shutdown that lasted approximately 30 hours.

Maintenance crews completed dozens of projects along the pipeline from Pump Station 1 at Prudhoe Bay to the Valdez Marine Terminal. Some of the most extensive and time consuming work occurred at Pump Station 4. A crew of over 100 workers replaced two valves used to launch “pigs” from that station. Pigs are devices put into the pipeline to conduct a variety of tasks ranging from detecting anomalies in the pipe to cleaning the pipe walls.

Another piece of work that took an orchestrated coordination of manpower and machinery was the F427 project. Four teams were dispatched to 10 different sites to set limit switches on valves along the pipeline. Limit switches assure valves open and close properly, shutting off or resuming the flow of oil upon command.

Farther North, work crews tackled the change out of 3 valves associated with natural gas distribution at Pump Station 3. Natural gas is the fuel Alyeska uses to power the pumps at Pump Stations 1, 3 and 4. The valves were replaced because they were nearing the completion of their natural life cycle.

Alyeska conducts line wide shutdowns nearly every year to continually renew, maintain and improve the system to insure the pipeline’s integrity and longevity. West Coast oil delivery was not affected due to stoppage of oil flow. Shipping vessels continued to load oil from storage tanks located on the marine terminal throughout the shutdown period.

The second of the summer shutdowns is scheduled for August 16th-17th. During that shutdown, preparatory work will be conducted at some of the pump stations in anticipation of the new electrification process Alyeska is implementing to move oil from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez.