Alaska Field Studies Video
During the summer of 2011, project scientists and technical experts conducted a wide range of environmental and cultural field studies along the proposed pipeline route in Alaska. Watch a short video on the project’s Summer 2011 field studies.
Seismology Field Studies Video
Seismology field studies are an important component of the Alaska Pipeline Project's field program. Data collected from seismology field studies will be used to generate a detailed map of fault zone behavior along the proposed pipeline corridor. The project will use the fault zone map to help guide pipeline construction design. Watch a short video on the project's seismology field studies...
Safety
Safety is a core value. It is essential in everything we do. All field employees and contractors receive extensive training in work-related safety protocols, as well as wilderness and survival training. Field teams start each workday with a safety meeting, reviewing important procedures, and identifying challenges likely to be encountered in the work environment
Protecting the Environment
The project has made environmental protection a core value. This includes minimizing impacts even during the field studies. For example, crews place drip pans under all fieldwork project vehicles parked along the pipeline corridor to prevent even tiny amounts of gasoline or motor oil getting into the environment. To prevent the spread of non-native species, hydrologists and fish biologists take extra precautions by decontaminating their gear between sites. In addition, APP has already banned felt-soled boots for all of its workers in compliance with a new Alaska law that will go into effect in 2011. In recent years, studies have shown that invasive species of micro-organisms can be transported between bodies of water by boots and waders with felt bottoms.
Field Studies
The Alaska Pipeline Project is progressing its field programs to collect and analyze environmental and engineering data along the pipeline corridor in Alaska and Canada.
In 2010, Alaska Pipeline Project engineers, scientists, technicians, and specialty contractors conducted an extensive environmental baseline and engineering field work program. The studies covered topics such as soil permafrost, seismology, fish counts, wetlands, archaeology, and cultural resources.
In 2011, project scientists and engineers were back in the field in Alaska and Canada to continue their research. In addition to further work on the surveys it started in 2010, the project expanded its field programs to conduct additional studies, including endangered species surveys, ambient air and meteorological monitoring, and noise surveys.
The field programs are examining the project's proposed pipeline routes in Alaska and Canada, as well as the proposed site of the project's gas treatment plant on the North Slope.
At peak levels in 2010, approximately 400 workers were in the field at one time, a majority of whom were Alaskan and Canadian residents working for local businesses and suppliers.
Environmental Field Studies
The project's environmental, biophysical and cultural resources field studies have been designed to ensure that wildlife, ecosystems and archaeological sites along the pipeline corridors are protected during construction and operation.
During the summer of 2010, fish and wetlands biologists surveyed sections of the proposed pipeline routes to identify fish habitats; hydrologists studied water-crossings, including streams, lakes and rivers; and cultural resources teams searched for archaeological sites.
In 2011, the project surveyed additional fish habitats, water-bodies, wetlands, water-crossings and potential archaeological sites along the pipeline corridor. Using state-of-the-art field computers and GPS devices, the science teams transmit real-time electronic data back to project offices in Anchorage and Calgary. This enables project engineers and planners to advance their work in tandem with the scientists in the field. All of the information gathered helps project teams evaluate the optimum route for the pipeline, including facility locations, to most effectively minimize the environmental and archaeological impacts of the project.
Engineering Field Studies
In addition to environmental fieldwork, the project is also conducting numerous engineering studies that will guide route selection and construction planning. These include drilling boreholes, assessing water crossings and fault zones, and conducting aerial mapping. Drilling boreholes to collect soil samples is critical to understanding the terrain along the pipeline corridor. The soil samples help engineers map the presence of ice and permafrost and study how the soil reacts to weather conditions, compaction and seismic activity. The permafrost conditions (permanently frozen sub-soil common in Northern Alaska and Canada) pose one of the challenges engineers face in route selection and construction planning.
Project geologists are also conducting in-depth studies of fault zones along the pipeline corridor. These studies began with several months of aerial mapping and analysis of satellite imagery in 2010. Once the geologists identified key areas of interest, they dug a number of trenches along the proposed route to study and map the behavior of various fault zones. The project conducted additional fault investigations in 2011. Evidence of historical earthquake movements may require route adjustments or other modifications during construction.