This film takes a look at the marine journey to Prudhoe Bay from Seattle and Tacoma Washington in order to develop an Alaskan oil reserve which was to be under contract of Atlantic Richfield Company or ARCO. The Alaskan northern slope remains icy for most of the year and receives little rainfall (:13). Summers are brief and caribou are seen returning to their traditional calving grounds (:25). In 1968, ARCO’s operating area in Prudhoe Bay is pictured (:49) and this was part of a large-scale mission to reach some 10 million barrels of oil which were located in natural reserves under the tundra (:58). The pipeline was to be completed in 1977 and required thousands of tons of equipment to be shipped to the area (1:09). In May of 1975, a convoy moved from Houston, Texas through the Panama Canal and around Mexico (1:29) to a port on Puget Sound. A major industrial complex was constructed in Seattle and Tacoma for transport to Prudhoe Bay (1:39). Modules were built in interlocking sections (2:02) These were self-contained fully equipped flow stations, gas injection plants and fuel processing systems insulated with steel encased walls (2:37). The central compressor plant was comprised of 41 separate units (2:47). The process of moving the modules begins (3:30) and it would take about a month to load 30 barges up with modules and 100,000 tons of equipment. These were packed tightly and the modules were welded down in order to prevent damage on the long trip (4:13). Tug boats lead the convoy as it set out to sea (4:34). The goal was to reach a point southwest of Barrow by the end of July (4:37) as the ice pack should have naturally moved off shore enough for passage. Observer’s had reported unusually bad ice conditions in the area (5:01). The route the convoy was to take is pointed to (5:33) and it would be a month long 4,000-mile journey across open sea. Weather conditions were unpredictable and a fog settled in over the convoy (5:48). The first major obstacle was encountered in the Bering Straits (5:51) as ice sheets were impenetrable. At Prudhoe Bay, preparations were continuing by Atlantic Richfield Company (6:19). Gravel was moved to be used for highways and by late August the sun began to lower and the barges were still trapped off Barrow (7:14). An Artic storm hit in late August which crushed one of the barges (7:39), though the module and equipment inside were saved (7:53). 10 of the barges were able to break through the ice pack in early September (8:12) while 15 remained trapped. Barge 415, which became a permanent installation of Prudhoe’s west dock, was built by sinking a special barge in order to unload equipment (8:58). The 4,000-foot causeway (9:05) that the modules would move over, follows. The barges moved in on the backs of giant crawlers (9:36). Oversized trucks carried the load north to Prudhoe Bay (11:18). The government authorized the clearing of all roads north due to the largeness of the trucks and their loads (11:33). Later in September, the ice sheets released the trapped 15 barges (11:44) and the Coast Guard Ice Breakers led the convoy (11:53). Soon after, a storm hit and barges that had not yet been unloaded were encased in ice and snow (13:14). The cargos were covered in canvas and carried by giant crawlers to the oil facility site (13:39). 18,000 rail cars delivered some 63,000 tons of cargo which came from diverted barges (16:16) and it would take 5 months to complete the transfer (16:28). Truckers left Fairbanks and traversed the difficult remaining route to Prudhoe (17:11) equalling about 2/3rds the size of the width of the US. The Trans-Alaskan oil pipeline was being constructed across the arctic plain and it was to be 800 miles long from Prudhoe to Valdez (18:06). 3,500 truckloads were transferred from the barges as winter settled in and temperatures dropped as low as 60 degrees below zero (19:28). Officials ordered the installation of self-generating heating units to protect equipment and some of the machinery within the modules were activated to prevent deterioration (21:17). Some of the barges were still encased in snow and ice and they were to remain that way until spring, although the modules and equipment were still moved ashore (22:07). The gravel causeway, which extended out to sea, required permission from the State of Alaska as well as the US Corps of Engineers to be constructed (22:21). This film was presented by Atlantic Richfield Company (23:53) and was produced by Jack Sheedy Studio (23:58).

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