The water was running over roughly 15 miles of the road in early April; at its peak, overflow ran 3 feet deep in some places, and froze over night.
Problems began March 13 when the Sagavanirktok, or Sag River, flowed over the highway in multiple locations between Mile 390 and Mile 405. The Dalton Highway is the only road link to the North Slope oil fields
At the request of DOT, Gov. Walker declared a state disaster Tuesday afternoon, the river flood waters affected roads since Sunday. The disaster declaration is the first Walker has made since taking office, spokesperson Grace Jang wrote.
The disaster declaration will allow DOT to “bring private contractors up to help,” Bailey said.
Peak of Achorage has been contracted to use Rolligon ATVs to bring in gas.
The disaster declaration gives DOT the ability to request federal highway funds, Zidek said. It also allows DOT to waive certain permitting requirements, enabling crews to work quickly to resolve the flooding.
Meanwhile, loads of cargo meant for the North Slope were backing up in Fairbanks. Aves Thompson, executive director of the Alaska Trucking Association, said Wednesday that road conditions have “slowed freight down to a trickle.”
“In Fairbanks now we estimate that there are 700 to 800 loads backed up,” Thompson said.
A note posted Tuesday afternoon on DOTPF's road-conditions website said the highway remained closed between Mile 355 and Mile 414 due to "high winds, blowing snow, drifting snow, zero visibility, and the water that has breached the road."
“Beginning March 13, the Sagavanirktok (Sag) River overflowed the Dalton Highway between Mile 390 and Mile 405 in multiple locations, with the overflow level as much as 30 inches higher than the road in some areas,” Walker’s statement read. “The magnitude of the event continues to expand.”
Aves Thompson, executive director of the Alaska Trucking Association, said Wednesday that the Sag River is usually covered by a 12-foot-deep ice sheet four to five miles wide in winter. Its early melting this year is the source of the water which has flooded the highway.
“Apparently, this is a phenomenon that hasn’t occurred in many of our lifetimes,” Thompson said. “There’s no place for the water to go but the road.”
https://www.adn.com/article/20150408/dalton-highway-ice-sheet-alaska-gov-walker-declares-disaster
http://www.newsminer.com/news/local_news/dalton-highway-closure-extended-alaska-governor-declares-disaster/article_4d036418-de28-11e4-98c0-57e34b57eb0e.html
http://www.ktuu.com/news/news/walker-declares-disaster-in-dalton-highway-flooding/32259130
"This map produced by NOAA shows the land-surface temperature anomaly: how the temperature deviated from normal, on average, over the month. The darkest red areas were 12 degrees Celsius (22 degrees Fahrenheit) above average"
http://tywkiwdbi.blogspot.com/2015/03/a-different-red-blue-split-in-us.html
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