that's a pretty thickgravel road !

thanks for the rough  meaning of

Tuktoyaktuk

.

On 3/15/2013 8:41 PM, Phil Zimmerman wrote:
> Date:         Fri, 15 Mar 2013 08:39:31 -0700
> Reply-To:     Alistair Bell <albell@SHAW.CA>
>
> Remember when a bunch of listmembers made their epic trip up to Univik?
> http://www.vanagon.com/journeys/inuvik/index.htm
> This week it was announced that the road is going to be extended to reach Tuktoyaktuk (on the arctic ocean)
> http://www.infrastructure.gc.ca/media/news-nouvelles/2013/20130313yellowknife-eng.html
> --------
> Alistair, thanks for the link.
>
> I do recall that 1996 Vanagon road trip to Inuvik on the Dempster (dumpster) highway.
> One driver on that trip, Pete Clark, passed away last year..
> The nickname dumpster is for the blown/ruined tires thrown into dumpsters along the route..:-)
> Shale gravel is very hard on tires (the gravel is harvested locally along the route)
>
> I worked out of Tuktoyaktuk back in 1977 before the road from Dawson City was built to Inuvik.
> Fly to Inuvik then drive on an Ice road on the river to Tuk� (winter only). Oil and Gas Exploration.
> The ice road is built each winter and costly for the short duration the road is passable.
>
> The high cost of road building in this region is becoming more expensive as the climate warms.
> The permafrost is receding deeper into the surface of the tundra. Enough to swallow your average Vanagon!
> A gravel roadbed must be built on the permafrost. Also, must be thick enough to insulate the permafrost
> from melting from the traffic the road carries. Often the gravel must be 20-30 feet thick.
> Thus, the high cost..
>
> Thanks again, for the link�
>
> Pz
>
> Tuktoyaktuk is anglicized Inuit roughly meaning: looks like/resembles a caribou
>