Professional Documents
Culture Documents
30 Years Ago....
Frank P. Moolin led the construction effort for Alyeska Pipeline Service Company, the consortium of owner companies
formed to design and build the line, and eventually, operate it. In the early days of construction Moolin noted that change
was the name of the game on a project of this scale.
Were change makers. We start with zilch and end up with something thats supposed to work on time, and within
budget, he said. You change the organization in order to make necessary changes we went through more changes
here than most corporate people go through in 15 years.
Moolin was quick to point out that because of Alaskas diverse terrain, the pipelines design would be dynamic and subject
to constant change. If youre building something like the World Trade Center in New York, your exposure to subsurface
work is early and brief, he said. Here, well encounter it to the last foot on the last day. On this project, the design is
never frozen.
The first mainline pipe was installed at the Tonsina River on 27 March 1975, and soon the project moved into high gear.
The workforce peaked in October 1975 at more than 28,000. After more than 100,000 welds in less than two years, the
pipeline was completed. And finally on the morning of 20 June 1977, the first oil began to flow from Prudhoe Bay. By mid2004 the pipeline had delivered nearly 12 billion barrels from the North Slope to the Valdez Marine Terminal.
The original cost estimate for the pipeline, pump stations and Valdez Terminal the main components of the trans Alaska
pipeline system was about $900 million. But because of delays, inflation, environmental requirements that necessitated
re-engineering and re-design, the final cost would soar to nearly $9 billion.
BP chief executive Lord Browne was assigned to Alaska in 1969 as a petroleum engineer, based in Anchorage. Over the
years he has often reflected on the historical significance of the trans Alaska pipeline.
The Alaska pipeline project proved that such a major project could be built in a remote region, in difficult topography and
in hostile climatic conditions, with minimal environmental impacts, he said. Alaska, BP, and the energy industry as a
whole, have reaped tremendous benefits from the Alaska pipelines longstanding success.
Its early winter in interior Alaska, and Alaskas Yukon River is frozen and covered with a light dusting of snow as it curves
around the wooded foothills. Above the white expanse looms a 699-metre (2,295-foot bridge) built in 1975 as part of the
pipeline project. Barely visible on rivers surface are the small, meandering footprints of a red fox. The pipeline
dramatically changed thousands of lives over the past 30 years, but here, in the grip of winters silence, life goes on as it
did before.
Frank Baker began as a writer for Bechtel Inc during the earliest phases of Alaska pipeline construction in 1974. In 1976
he joined Alyeskas public affairs team in Anchorage, and in 1978 began his writing and editing career with BP.
Captions:
Major project: the first pipe at Tonsina in 1975, opposite; above, a convoy of construction equipment moving north by way
of winter trail.
Digging deep: Borehole drilling and, below, building the 579-kilometre (360-mile) Haul Road in 1974.
Phil Kean, BP employee, competed in the Commonwealth Games at Christchurch, New Zealand.
West Germany won the Football World Cup, beating the Netherlands 2-1.
Swedish pop group Abba won the Eurovision song contest with Waterloo.
The Magnus field in the North Sea was discovered.
The Godfather Part II starring Al Pacino, right, won best picture at the Academy Awards.