Alyeska Pipeline / Viewing Point — Attraction in Alaska

The Trans-Alaska Pipeline Viewpoint. I got a look at one of the world's engineering marvels.

You'll find info displays on the pipeline and an example of a pig, a device used to clean and inspect the inside of the pipeline.

It took 70,000 workers and $8 billion of investment capital to build the famous 4 foot silver thread that snakes its way through 800 miles of Alaskan wilderness to reach the nation's thirsty refineries, crossing mountain ranges, earthquake zones, permafrost, and rivers. Around 675 km of the pipeline is elevated (with 554 animal crossings), and outside Fairbanks is the place to see it. Every hour, more than a million dollars of black gold...

This was a usual Stopover for us during our Journey to the Arctic Circle from Fairbanks. The Alyeska Pipeline aka Trans-Alaska Oil Pipeline is an Engineering Marvel as it travels mostly parallel to the James Dalton Highway and is about 800 miles long serving the oil wells near Prudhoe Bay, AK. The visitor center is across from the Yukon River camp embankment where there are some stores as well as RV, Snow vehicle, etc storage. There is a nice restaurant that serves good food and is prepared fresh. Nice clean restrooms and great place to rest before heading to the Arctic circle. We enjoyed the clean air and great hospitality...

I love this place because I'm an engineer, and I wanted to understand all the complex engineering that was required to put this pipeline through such a rugged environment. There's not much here, accept a section of the pipeline that you can walk up to and touch. Interpretive signs tell you quite a bit about the construction of the pipeline and the engineering that was involved. It's free, you can stay as long as you'd like, and it's very interesting. However, if you're not at all interested in engineering Marvels, you might want to...