Tuktoyaktuk Winter Road

A muddy road with deep tire ruts and puddles on the left, amid a wooded area. At the left is a white on green sign with "Winter Ice ... Maximum Weight ... 000 kg" written on it. In the distance is some water reflecting evergreen trees across it
Beginning of the ice portion of the road, seen in summer, south of Inuvik

Tuktoyaktuk Winter Road is an ice road on frozen Mackenzie River delta channels and the frozen Arctic Ocean between the Northwest Territories communities of Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk, in Canada. It services gas hydrate fields and exploration facilities at Mallik, Aput, and Langley, along with the ice-locked barges Wurmlinger and Arctic Star, which act as bases of operations for ice road crews and exploration personnel. In addition, the road is a key supply line for Tuktoyaktuk and the hamlet of Aklavik.

It is part of the Dempster Highway. The rest of the Dempster Highway is on land and can be driven on through the summer.

Construction of an all-weather highway between Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk commenced in April 2013. [1] The highway is estimated to be finished by fall of 2017, after which the ice road will be permanetly closed. [2]

Ice Road Truckers

A History channel blog announced that the second season of Ice Road Truckers would be based out of Inuvik. A CBC North story reported that the episodes of this season occur on the Tuktoyaktuk Winter Road. Four of the featured drivers from the first season took part: Alex Debogorski, Hugh Rowland, Drew Sherwood, and Rick Yemm.[3][4]

The road returned in 2012 for the sixth season of the show, with Debogorski the sole featured driver behind the wheel on this winter road. (The entirety of the Dempster Highway, as well as the Dalton Highway in Alaska, and Manitoba's winter roads, were also featured.)

References


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Thursday, April 28, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.