Alyeska (Trans-Alaska) Pipeline

OK, All you non-technical types can skip this blog, unless your interested in how the Trans-Alaska pipeline is supported.

I am not a fan of the Trans-Alaska pipeling. That said, I was fascinated by it's construction. In looking at the supports, you will notice that the entire pipeline floats on it's supports.

What I found especially fascinating was all the motion the pipeline is allowed to have. Whenever the pipeline is supported overhead, it snakes along, weaving back and forth. That is so that as it expands and contracts with the temperature, etc, it won't buckle, but simply slide back and forth. The supports allow for that. The pipe can slide side to side on the horizontal I beams suspended between the two vertical supports. The bulges in the pipe are bumpers that let it hit the vertical supports without damaging the pipe. The bulges are not secured to the pipe, but are simply a sleeve which allows the pipe to twist inside them.

This is a closeup of the support. The bulge sits on a cradle but is not attached to it, so the bulge can also twist if needed. The cradle sits on the cross member and can slip and slide, side to side, and fore and aft. The cross member itself sits in cradles at each of the vertical supports, allowing the pipe to tilt off of the horizontal plane. And lastly, the vertical supports are not a single section of pipe, but rather two with the bottom slightly wider than the upper. The gray horizontal support rest in it's cradles which in turn rests on the bottom pipe of the vertical support. This whole assembly can slide up the vertical supports.

So the pipeline can twist, turn, slide back and forth, bend, and, jump up and down and still be supported. Pretty Interesting, huh?