page_title: Construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System
section_title: Pipeline camps
hierarchical_section_title: Construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System / Preparation / Pipeline camps
context_page_description: The construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System included over 800 miles of oil pipeline, 12 pump stations, and a new tanker port. Built largely on permafrost during 1975–77 between Prudhoe Bay and Valdez, Alaska, the $8 billion effort required tens of thousands of people, often working in extreme temperatures and conditions, the invention of specialized construction techniques, and the construction of a new road, the Dalton Highway.
  The first section of pipe was laid in 1975 after more than five years of legal and political arguments. Allegations of faulty welds drew intense scrutiny from local and national observers. A culture grew around the unique working conditions involved in constructing the pipeline, and each union that worked on the project had a different function and stereotype. Thirty-two Alyeska Pipeline Service Company employees and contract workers were killed during the project. The main construction effort lasted until 1977; the first barrel of oil was delivered on July 28 of that year. Several more pump stations, added as oil flow increased, were completed through 1980.
context_section_description: When the contracts were announced, Alyeska already had 12 pipeline construction camps either built or under construction. These camps were all north of the Yukon, however, and camps had to be built along the entire length of the project. Alyeska planned for 29 construction camps, but 31 were created. Seven were built along the pipeline south of the Yukon, and one was built at each of the 12 pump stations along the length of the route.
  The camps were built on thick beds of gravel laid down to insulate the underlying permafrost and to prevent pollution. At the conclusion of the construction project, the gravel was removed, theoretically removing oil leaks and other pollution with it. Atop the gravel were prefabricated modular buildings either flown to the site or trucked across the Dalton Highway. The standardized structures could house 28 people, and two typically were bolted together to create two "wings". All were one-story, except at Valdez and at the pump station camps, where modules were laid atop one another because of space concerns. In addition to the gravel insulation, both buildings and utility conduits were raised above the ground to avoid heating permafrost.
  The camps housed from 250 people (at each pump station) to 3,500 people (at Valdez). A typical pump station camp cost $6 million to build, while the typical mainline camps cost about $10 million to build. The camps had beds for 16,500 workers and were collectively referred to as "Skinny City" by workers. The name came from the fact that the "city" was 800 miles (1,300 km) long, but only a few hundred feet wide.
  Overall construction headquarters was at Fort Wainwright near Fairbanks, where Alyeska leased land and buildings from the U.S. Army. Vacant barracks were converted into housing, and vacant offices were given to oil workers. As air traffic increased, Alyeska arranged for the use of Fort Wainwright's airfield to relieve the burden on Fairbanks International Airport. The camp at Wainwright was the only one that did not use prefabricated buildings.
caption: A map of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline with pump stations and construction camps identified.