Flooding washes out Dalton Highway, main overland link to Prudhoe Bay oil fields

A stretch of the Dalton Highway near the Saginavirktok River was washed out by flood waters on Saturday, leading to an 80-foot-wide gap in the only road leading to Prudhoe Bay.

As a result, the highway is closed between Milepost 305 and 356. 

The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, which said the washout was due to a failed culvert, expects to reopen the road by Wednesday.

The North Slope experienced a cool spring followed by a stretch of warm weather that contributed to a rapid breakup on the Saginavirktok River and other bodies of water in the far north.

DOT said on Saturday that water was overtopping the road at another spot near the washout, there were places with shoulder damage, and at a site nearer Prudhoe Bay, water was being trapped against the raised roadbed due to a partially blocked culvert. 

This year’s flooding, while significant, is less than what occurred in 2015, when huge stretches of the highway were washed out, causing an 18-day halt to traffic.

Climate change and permafrost thawing are making the North Slope’s ground increasingly unstable and are contributing to chaotic river breakups across the state.