One of the defining assignments in the company’s history was the Trans-Alaska Pipeline.

Construction lasted from 1975 until 1977. Under the supervision of Arctic Constructors and the project owner, Alyeska Pipeline Service Company, Zachry — along with Brown & Root, Ingram Corporation, Peter Kiewit Sons, and Williams Brothers Alaska — built sections 5 and 6. This segment extended southwards from Prudhoe Bay (about 250 miles above the Arctic Circle) to Dietrich Alaska, a distance of 223 miles.

Much of the job was above the Arctic Circle, and the permafrost did not allow for excavation. So the pipeline had to be carried on Vertical Support Members (VSMs), which required alignment tolerances not always easy to administer in such harsh conditions.

The VSMs were laid in parallel, two at a time, and each had a semicircular rest
designed to hold the pipeline. This was in 40 or 80-foot segments which were carried by crane or sideboom to the required location, then lowered into place and welded together. All of this had to be done in temperatures that could reach minus 50 to minus 75 degrees, along with heavy snow and high winds.

This was not exactly a walk in the park but, as always, the job was done efficiently and on time, and the company is justifiably proud of being part of what at the time was the largest privately owned construction project in history.