The Alaskan Oil Pipeline, also called the Trans-Alaska Pipeline and Alyeska Pipeline, is one of the largest oil pipeline systems in the world. The pipeline system is 800 miles long, running north to south and carrying oil from Prudhoe Bay on Alaska's North Slope to Valdez, North America's northernmost ice-free port, according to Alyeska-pipe.com.
After oil was discovered in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska in 1968 by Atlantic Richfield Company and Humble Oil (now Exxon), plans were developed to construct the oil pipeline, according to ValdezAlaska.org. Environmental groups lobbied against pipeline construction in the early 1970s, delaying construction.
Legal proceedings continued for more than three years until the project was granted presidential approval. Construction started Nov. 16, 1973, according to ValdezAlaska.org. Since the oil field is 360 miles from the Yukon River, a road had to be constructed to carry materials. The first pipe was laid March 27, 1975.
Construction of the pipeline was completed on May 31, 1977. The first oil moved through the pipeline on June 20, 1977, according to Alyeska-pipe.com. As of May 9, 2008, more than 15 billion barrels of oil had moved through the system. About 20 percent of all U.S.-produced oil flows through the pipeline each year, according to Fairbanks-Alaska.com.
The pipeline cost about $8 billion to build and is operated and maintained by Alyeska Pipeline Services Company. Parts of the pipeline are buried under well-drained gravel or solid rock, but more than half of the pipeline sites on top of above-ground supports to prevent warm oil from thawing the ground, which could cause the line to sink, according to Fairbanks-Alaska.com.
Several visible portions of the pipeline are now tourist attractions, according to ExploreNorth.com. More than 90,000 people visit the Alyeska Visitor's Center, which is open from Memorial Day through Labor Day, each year.
