TAPS Throwback, March 27, 1975: First pipe installed at Tonsina River
March 27, 2025, marks the 50th anniversary of the unofficial start of TAPS construction as the first pipe was laid at Tonsina River, 75 miles north of Valdez. (In reality, work was well underway by 1975. (For example, $100 million of the first 48-inch pipe arrived in Valdez from Japan in Sept. 1969, the road from Livengood to the Yukon River was built in winter 1969-1970, etc. …)
While ceremony and excitement surrounded the day witnessed by dignitaries, including Senator Ted Stevens, pipeline and industry leadership, media, and a curious crowd of Alaskans (including a passing dog sled team), the energy of the event was sunk when the pipeline floated.
PBS’ The Alaska Pipeline Collection’s The Tale of the Concrete Horseshoe noted: “The first challenge came on the very first day pipe was laid in the Tonsina River. An empty pipe is buoyant, so it had to be weighed down with a 7,000-pound horseshoe. If it isn’t done right, the pipe comes floating to the surface. Bill Howitt, then an Alyeska engineer, said: ‘The first pipe went in and there were dignitaries all around and everybody clapped and kind of walked away and they were almost gone when the concrete weight slipped off and she came up.’”
The New York Times, in an April 10, 1975, article reported, “Two weeks ago Alyeska flew newsmen and dignitaries to witness installation of the first buried pipe at the Tonsina River crossing 75 miles north of Valdez. … A portion of that 1,500 feet of steel later floated to the top of the river but Alyeska blamed that complication on concrete weighted collars designed to hold the pipe in place. The company said the situation was corrected a short time after it occurred. … ‘We’ve had our last ceremony until we finish the pipeline,’ spokesman Robert Miller said.”
Here is an Alyeska video recapping the event (thank you, UAF Library!), along with some photos of the Tonsina timeline from Alyeska’s Steve McCutchen Collection (thank you, Anchorage Museum!) and one special shot shared by the Ted Stevens Foundation.
