Permafrost Test Sites: A Summary of Alaskan Pipeline Industry Efforts in Addressing Frozen Ground and Related Technical Issues

This paper is an attempt to identify and provide a brief summary of some industry efforts that occurred during the late 1960s on through the mid-1980s, that I was involved with or aware of. All of the test sites were focused on evaluating terrain conditions and assessing potential pipeline impacts that would be involved while dealing with frozen ground conditions. Efforts included various organizations and participation by government agencies that occurred during both the Alyeska Pipeline Service Company (APSC), Arctic gas pipeline, and Alaska northwest natural gas transmission system early project activities. There were at least 11 test sites having locations in various parts of Alaska. These included Barrow, Prudhoe Bay, Prospect Creek, Hess Creek, the Fairbanks area and Glennallen. They addressed concerns relating to thermal modeling of a hot oil 48-inch pipe buried in frozen ground, thaw settlement/ frost heave effects, trench excavation methods, and testing vertical support solutions for the designated above ground pipeline segments.