A Century of Northern Canadian Development

A Century of Northern Canadian Development

A Compilation of Technical Papers and Articles

By Kenneth Johnson Planner, Engineer and Historian cryofront@shaw.ca 2016 Edition

A Century of Northern Canadian Development A Compilation of Technical Papers and Articles Kenneth Johnson Planner, Engineer, and Historian cryofront@shaw.ca There's a land where the mountains are nameless, And the rivers all run God knows where; There are lives that are erring and aimless, And deaths that just hang by a hair; There are hardships that nobody reckons; There are valleys unpeopled and still; There's a land -- oh, it beckons and beckons, And I want to go back -- and I will.

Robert W. Service

Table of Contents 1. David Thompson and George Back – Mappers of the Northwest ............................ 1 2. The Sourdough Engineer – Then and Now.................................................................... 7 3. White Pass and Yukon Railway – Yukon’s Path to the Pacific .................................. 11 4. Re-Creating the Yukon Ditch Near Dawson City, Yukon. ....................................... 19 5. Yukon Sternwheelers and the SS Klondike .................................................................. 29 6. Yukon Aerial Tramways – Wire, Wheels and Buckets in the Canadian North ........ 39 7. Gold Dredging in the Klondike and Number 4 ......................................................... 47 8. Canol – The Forgotten Pipeline. ................................................................................... 57 9. Alaska Highway – the Road to Russia .......................................................................... 61 10. Crystal II Airbase to City of Iqaluit................................................................................. 69 11. Inuvik NWT Utilidor Replacement.................................................................................. 73 12. Canadian Forces Station Alert – Engineering at Canada’s Frozen Edge .............. 79 13. The Race for Northern Gas............................................................................................ 83 14. Diamonds in the North – “Ice” Beneath the Ice ........................................................ 87 15. Fifty Years of Wastewater management and Improvements in Iqaluit .................. 91 16. Water and Sewer Systems Serving Dawson City, Yukon ........................................... 97

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17. Snare River Hydro – A History Dedication.................................................................. 101 18. Iqaluit, Nunavut – Building Canada’s New Frontier Capital................................... 107 19. Project Delivery – Then and Now ............................................................................... 111 20. Water Treatment “on the rocks” in Yellowknife, NWT .............................................. 115 21. A Brief History of the Past 60 Years of Northern Water and Waste ........................ 119 22. Cold Region Technology – The Future (in 1999). ..................................................... 127 23. The Cold and the Old – 35 Years of Design in the Far North .................................. 131

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The 2006 Annual General Conference of the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering 2006 Congrès général annuel de la Société canadienne de génie civil

Calgary, Alberta, Canada May 23-26, 2006 / 23-26 Mai 2006

David Thompson and George Back: Mappers of the Northwest Kenneth R. Johnson Earth Tech Canada Inc., Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Abstract: The Canadian Northwest was first defined for practical purposes by the Charter of the Hudson’s Bay Company. On May 6, 1670, a charter was granted to the “Company of Adventurers of England trading into Hudson’s Bay,” creating the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC). This charter gave the HBC exclusive control of all the land drained by rivers flowing into Hudson’s Bay. Of course, the Europeans had little idea how vast that territory was - about 4 million square kilometres.

Fur trade commerce was the primary objective of the Hudson’s Bay Company, and later the Northwest Company, and this activity continued for more than a century with little regard for mapping the region. The incredible travels of David Thompson in the 1780’s through to about 1810 managed to combine the commerce of fur trading with mapping a vast region of the “southern” northwest.

Following David Thompson came the expeditions of Franklin and the mapping of the “northern” northwest by George Back in the period of 1820 to the middle of the 1830’s.

These individuals came from very different backgrounds, and their interest in geography was grounded on very different principles. David Thompson was a fur trader trained surveyor and mapper, who ultimately died in poverty. George Back was the military trained surveyor and mapper, who continued on to become a knight and an admiral in the British Navy. Both of these individuals created a geography and mapping legacy that endures to this day.

1.

Introduction

The Canadian Northwest was first defined for practical purposes by the Charter of the Hudson’s Bay Company. On May 6, 1670, a charter was granted to the “Company of Adventurers of England trading into Hudson’s Bay,” creating the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC). This charter gave the HBC exclusive control of all the land drained by rivers flowing into Hudson’s Bay. Of course, the Europeans had little idea how vast that territory was - about 4 million square kilometres.

Exploration to the Northwest was slow to develop. Based on Native maps collected in the 1760's, the HBC came to believe that there was a northern river (the Coppermine) which connected Baffin Bay or Hudson Bay to a large interior lake (Great Slave) and a second river which led from there to the Pacific Ocean. In 1770, the HBC sent Samuel Hearne, guided by Matonabbee, on his epic journey to the Coppermine River to look for such a route and to report on the presence of copper. He determined that the Coppermine emptied into the Arctic Ocean, that there was little copper in the area and that there was no east-west water route north of the Churchill River (See Figure 1).

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By the time Hearne returned, competition from Montreal-based Northwest Company or the “pedlars” had grown to the point that the HBC ordered him to the Saskatchewan to build their first inland post, Cumberland House, in 1774. This decision initiated a new phase of the fur trade, exploration and mapping. Surveyors were sent inland on major rivers to assess the river systems for wooden boat traffic and to estimate the extent of "pedlar" penetration. In 1778 the HBC hired Philip Turnor as its first trained inland surveyor. He was a fortunate choice because not only did the quality of the HBC's maps improve, but Turnor also trained some of the Company's best surveyors, among them David Thompson.

Figure 1. The journey of Samual Hearne in 1771 from Hudson Bay to the Arctic Ocean (Atlas of Canada) The incredible travels of David Thompson in the 1780’s through to about 1810 managed to combine the commerce of fur trading with mapping a vast region of the “southern” northwest.

Following David Thompson came the expeditions of John Franklin and the mapping of the “northern” northwest by George Back in the period of 1820 to the middle of the 1830’s.

2.

Northwest Exploration and Development

A summary of the milestone in northwest exploration and development in the 1700 and 1800’s is presented in Table 1.

Table 1. Summary of northwest exploration from 1700 to 1899 Year Milestone 1722 British Privy Council memorandum sets out doctrines of discovery & conquest 1763 Royal Proclamation of King George III recognizes aboriginal title and rights to land 1771 First European (Hearne) reaches the Arctic Ocean near Coppermine by land 1784 North West Company founded 1788 Alaska is claimed as Russian territory 1789 Mackenzie River traversed to Arctic Ocean (Alexander Mackenzie) 1804 Fort Simpson established by Northwest Company

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Year 1821 1830 1843 1867 1867 1870 1870 1873 1896

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Milestone Northwest Company and Hudson’s Bay Company merge, known as HBC HBC begins innoculating Native people against small pox HBC begins laying out land boundaries Constitution Act - Canada responsible for Indians and lands reserved for Indians Alaska is transferred to the US from Russia Transfer of HBC lands to Canada British North America (BNA) Act gives province control over land Northwest Mounted Police formed Discovery of gold in the Klondike

Survey Technology of the 1700 and 1800’s

For more than 2000 years, navigators have known how to determine latitude through observations of celestial bodies such as the sun and Polaris. Between the equator and the North Pole, the angle of Polaris above the horizon is a direct measure of terrestrial latitude. The devices used to measure the angle have evolved slowly since the 1600’s. One of the most popular instruments of the 1600’s was the Davis quadrant or “back-staff”.

Captain John Davis conceived this instrument during his voyage to search for the Northwest Passage. It was called a quadrant because it could measure up to 90 degrees, that is, a quarter of a circle. The observer determined the altitude of the sun by observing its shadow while simultaneously sighting the horizon. Relatively inexpensive and sturdy, with a proven track record, Davis quadrants remained popular for more than 150 years, even after much more sophisticated instruments using double-reflection optics were invented.

Navigators could find their latitude for many centuries but accurate longitude remained a difficult if not impossible calculation. Well into the 1700’s there was an ongoing press to develop techniques for determining longitude. The missing element was a way to measure time accurately. The clock makers were busy inventing mechanical devices while the astronomers were promoting a celestial method called "lunar distances".

Early in the 1700’s, the astronomers had developed a method for predicting the angular distance between the moon and the sun, the planets or selected stars. Using this technique, the navigator at sea could measure the angle between the moon and a celestial body, calculate the time at which the moon and the celestial body would be precisely at that angular distance and then compare the ship’s chronometer to the time back at the national observatory. Knowing the correct time, the navigator could now determine longitude.

A major advance in navigation was achieved in the 1750’s with the development of relatively accurate sextants and the achromatic lens.

4.

The Travels and Milestones of David Thompson

David Thompson (1770-1857) was apprenticed to the Hudson's Bay Company at the age 14. He had a very good eye and mind for mathematics, and if he hadn't severely injured his leg after arriving in the colony, most likely would have carried out his duties for the rest of his life as a clerk for the Hudson's Bay Company. But David Thompson was to come under the mentorship of Philip Turnor, a very able cartographer who taught Thompson the skills of the surveyor, and mapper. Over the course of twenty eight years he traveled about fifty thousand miles, and this mapping information was presented in his own map.

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Table 2. Summary of travel milestones of David Thompson Year Milestone 1784-86 Travels to Churchill and York Factory 1786-90 Travels to South Branch House, Cumberland House, Manchester House, and Hudson House; trained in surveying by Philip Turnor while healing broken leg 1792-95 Travels to York Factory, Sipiwesk House, Chatham House, Reindeer Lake, Buckingham House, Reed Lake House, Cumberland House, Three Points, 1795-97 Travels to Duck Portage, Lake Athabaska, Reindeer Lake, Fairford House, and Bedford House 1797 Leaves Hudson's Bay Company 1797-1800 Travels along Red River, Missouri River, Mississippi River, Churchill River, Red Deer River, Bow River, Brazeau, River, and Lake Superior 1800-03 Travels to Rocky Mountain House, Fort Augustus, and Fort William; travels along North Saskatchewan River.

1803-07 Travels to Rocky Mountain House, Peace River Forks, Horse Shoe House, and Fort William, Bear's Backbone Post, Cumberland House, Reindeer Lake, and Reed Lake 1807 Crosses Rocky Mountains via Howse Pass and builds Kootenay House on Columbia River 1807-10 Travels to Kootenay House, Rainy Lake House, Fort Augustus, Kullyspel House, Flathead House; travels along Kootenay River, and North Saskatchewan River 1810-12 Crosses Rocky Mountains via Athabaska Pass; travels along Kootenay and Columbia River, reaching Pacific Ocean 1812-15 Created a map of the North-West Territory for the area 45 to 60 degrees latitude and 84 to 124 degrees longitude 1815-37 “Retired� to Williamstown; worked on international boundary commission

Figure 3. Map created by David Thompson from Lake Superior Northwest (Atlas of Canada)

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5.

The Travels and Milestones of George Back

Sir George Back (1796 – 1878) was a traditional British explorer of the age in northern Canada. He was apprenticed at a young age in the Royal navy, and with time, he advanced in the military. He accompanied Sir John Franklin on arctic expeditions between 1818 and 1827. On his own in 1833 to 1835 he searched for the missing John Ross, and his expedition explored the Great Fish River (now Back River) and Montreal Island in the present Nunavut Territory. His Narrative of the Arctic Land Expedition appeared in 1836. On a later journey (1836–37) he explored the arctic coast of Canada.

Table 3. Summary of travel milestones of George Back Year Milestone 1808 Entered the Royal Navy a few weeks before his thirteenth birthday 1809-1814 Taken prisoner while trying to destroy French batteries 1814 Joined Rear Admiral Sir Thomas Byam Martin's flagship Akbar 1816 Took, and passed, his seamanship examination.

1817 Attended the Royal Naval College to take his examination in Mathematics 1818 Invited to join Lieutenant John Franklin for a voyage to the Arctic waters around Spitzbergen.

1819-22 Invited to join Franklin on an overland expedition from Hudson Bay to the Coppermine River, 4th European to view Arctic Ocean from overland travel 1823 Back to sea appointed, as the junior lieutenant to HMS Superb 1824-27 A land expedition as surveyor (with Franklin) to mouth of the Mackenzie River to survey the Arctic coast westwards 1833-35 Relief expedition for Captain John Ross; discovery of the Thlew-ee-choh River exploration of Back River to Arctic Ocean 1836-37 Arctic voyage to explore coast – stranded in ice pack for 9 months 1839 Knighted 1857 Appointed admiral

Figure 4. Area explored by George Back from Hudson Bay Northwest (Atlas of Canada)

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6.

Conclusions

David Thompson and George Back were as diverse in their backgrounds as one could possibly imagine at the time. David Thompson was a fur trader trained surveyor and mapper, and George Back was the military trained surveyor and mapper. Both individuals were, however, influenced by very significant events early in their lives. Thompson suffered a major injury that ultimately provided an opportunity for train as a surveyor. Back was a prisoner of war which provided an opportunity learn a second language and develop a skill as a artist. Both of these individuals created a geography and mapping legacy that endures to this day.

7.

References

Atlas of Canada. 2005.

Jenish, D’Arcy. 2004. Epic Wanderer; David Thompson and the Mapping of the Canadian West.

Steele, Peter. 2003. The Man Who Mapped the Arctic.

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The Sourdough Engineer - Then and Now This article is dedicated to the late Mr. James Cameron, M.Sc., P.Eng., a modern Sourdough Engineer. Jim spent many winters in the far north working with communities to improve municipal water and sanitation. He is sadly missed by his family, friends and colleagues.

By Definition A sourdough by definition (Oxford Concise Dictionary - Fifth Edition) is “one who has spent one or more winters in Alaska.” This definition is somewhat incorrect since most Canadian northerners know that Alaska really doesn’t have a winter in comparison to the Canadian Arctic, and besides most of the Alaska Highway lies within the boundaries of Canada. This definition is further enriched by the term “cheechako” which refers to individual who has not yet spent a complete winter in the north.

Engineering in the far north of Canada is quite often treated with either disdain or intrigue by engineers. Those who disdain it express a discomfort with even the winters in the Canadian south, and look further south for work opportunities. Those who are intrigued by it either make it their home (if families permit), or stay in close contact and travel north whenever possible, even in the dead winter.

Engineering "North of 60" provides some very unique working conditions, as well as engineering conditions. The working conditions include extended periods of daylight and darkness, extended periods of travel, and extreme cold temperatures (See Article by Ken Johnson PEGG September 1995 - Municipal Engineering North of 60).

Combining sourdough with engineer, in theory, should produce an individual with the behaviour of Grizzly Adams, the intellect of Albert Einstein, and a resemblance to Paul Newman. The image that comes to mind is a dashing figure climbing the formidable Chilkoot Pass with 500 pounds of supplies on his back (including a clearly visible survey instrument), and operating a slide rule with his free hand (for the younger engineers, a sliderule is an ancient device used by engineers before the computer).

Such is not the case for the Sourdough Engineer today, who as a general rule, is an even tempered, thoughtful and generally unassuming individual; the exception to this rule are a couple of Yukoners who will not be identified by name. It must the ghosts of the Klondike that create this inconsistency in the personality of the Sourdough Engineer.

The Sourdough Engineer - Then The construction of the White Pass and Yukon Railway between 1898 and 1900 should be considered the project which defined the work, and working conditions of the first Sourdough Engineers. Certainly the most notable figures on the project were Hislop, Heney and Hawkins, a trio known as the 3-H’s. Hawkins and Hislop were formerly trained as an engineers, while Heney went through the school of hard knocks, but possessed an intuitive understanding of

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complex engineering problems . A subordinate to the 3H’s, but still notable figure to the building of the White Pass and Yukon Railway was a Canadian engineer by the name of Robert Brydone-Jack. Brydone-Jack was educated as a civil engineer at the Royal Military College in Kingston, and graduated in June 1887.

Brydone-Jack started on the White Pass and Yukon Railway in August 1898, and was put on the project as a watchdog for the railway’s shareholder trustee. His job was to verify any expenditure vouchers, and ensure that the railway was being constructed in accordance with the construction contract. His presence was at first considered to be an intrusion into the railway=s affairs, but Brydone-Jack’s technical skill, and personality soon established a good working relationship. He was also regarded as a welcome diversion for the 3 H’s that offered an amusing opportunity to test his knowledge, stamina, and sense of humour.

Brydone-Jack often accompanied the Heney and Hislop up toward White Pass, and prided himself in never having met a man who could stay with him on the trail. His compatibility with Heney and Hawkins worked to the advantage to the railway, and everyone involved in the construction at the time.

Robert Brydone-Jack’s life unfortunately ended well before its time. He accompanied Heney and Hislop on a week long inspection trip by foot, which began on February 4, 1899. The snow was deep, the temperatures bitterly cold, and the wind was so fierce that it stopped them dead on their tracks at times. Brydone-Jack’s ultimate stamina was still in question, and he was determined to prove himself as the best trailman of the three. On February 9th he was running a fever, but objected to his comrades suggestion to catch a work train back to Skagway.

On February 12th, much to Brydone-Jack’s objection, Hislop and Heney moved him from the White Pass Summit in a makeshift stretcher 2 and a half kilometres to the end of the rail. They commandeered a locomotive to move at a speed that no engine has ever done before on a unfinished track, 30 kilometres down to Skagway In spite of this effort, Robert Brydone-Jack died on February 13, 1899. Although he did not live one full winter in the north his spirit and actions were those of a Sourdough.

The Sourdough Engineer - Now The engineers who frequent Canada's north today are a somewhat different breed from their historic brothers, but the extreme conditions are still part of their work. The cold and the heat, the light and the dark, the solitude and the activity are all extremes which must still be considered as part of most engineering projects in the north today.

The variety of engineering work undertaken by the modern Sourdough Engineer would certainly impress their founding fathers. In a modern approach, the best way to illustrate this is of course a series of case studies on the three types of modern Sourdough Engineers. These types of engineers being the old-timer Sourdough Engineer; the wandering Sourdough Engineer; and the

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academic Sourdough Engineer. Specific individuals may not fit within these discrete categories, and many hybrids are visible, particularly in the Yukon.

The old-timer Sourdough Engineer is not old in years, but rather old in experience because of their many years of continuous work in the north. The old-timer may or may not reside in the north at the moment, but a single day usually doesn't go by without some call from somewhere in the Yukon, the Northwest Territories or Nunavut enquiring about some project he worked on some time ago.

The old-timer always conveys a pleasant tone, even if he is having a bad day, and there is always time to chat about the weather. The wealth of knowledge of the old-timer is invaluable, particularly for the younger generation of Sourdough Engineers. The old-timer may not have an immediate answer to a questions, but he is willing to spend the time to work through to an answer.

The wandering Sourdough Engineer is not looking for anything, but rather taking advantage of the many travel opportunities associated with working in the north. Whether the project be a drainage study in Beaver Creek, a sewage lagoon in Grise Fiord, a pumphouse in Siberia, or an airport in Antarctica, the wanderer is ready and willing to get the job done in spite of what many may considered less than ideal living and working conditions.

The wanderer also takes full advantage of adventures not necessarily associated with work, such as paddling the South Nahanni River, cycling the Canol Road (See Article by Ken Johnson PEGG June 1997 - Canol: The Forgotten Pipeline), or hiking the Chilkoot trail.

The academic Sourdough Engineer would often rather be on an isolated project site in the high Arctic than teaching a class at some southern campus. However, their commitment for conveying knowledge about Sourdough Engineering means a classroom is where they must spend a significant portion of their time.

The academic Sourdough Engineer will of course manage a few trips north each year to undertake a project or two, and renew acquaintances with old Sourdough Engineering colleagues.

The distances travelled by the academic Sourdough Engineer are astounding because these individuals think nothing of hopping on a C130 Hercules for a 4300 kilometre week long outing to Alert at the top of Ellesmere Island.

The Sourdough Engineer has in many ways changed over the past century. The adventure and tragedy of the first Sourdough Engineers will never be repeated, which in the case of the tragedy is a good thing. The present and future Sourdough Engineers, however, have gained a tremendous opportunity with the ease of transportation into the far reaches of the north, and the opportunity to work on a variety of amazing projects.

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References The White Pass: Gateway to the Klondike by Roy Minter Municipal Engineering North of 60 by Ken Johnson

Ken Johnson (ken.johnson@earthtech.ca) is a Senior Sourdough Engineer with Earth Tech in Edmonton. He is a Sourdough Engineer by virtue of spending 5 of the last 17 winters in the Yukon (Whitehorse) and NWT (Yellowknife), and portions of the winter of 1991 in Iqaluit (he is a Senior Engineer by virtue of the fact that he is now over the age of 45). He is a regular contributor to the newsletter of APEGGA on cold regions technology and history. He also publishes an award winning electronic journal on cold regions technology, which goes by the name of CRYOFRONT.

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Annual General Conference Assemblée générale annuelle Edmonton, Alberta June 6-9, 2012 / 6 au 9 juin 2012

White Pass and Yukon Railway: Yukon’s Path to the Pacific Ken Johnson AECOM Abstract: The Yukon and White Pass Railway was the first major civil engineering project in North America north of the 60th latitude. Constructed in 27 months from 1898 to 1900, this 176 kilometre narrow gauge railway carried thousands of prospectors and their supplies to the Klondike Gold Rush from the Pacific Ocean.

The railway provided the first efficient transportation link from the Port of Skagway, Alaska over the coast mountain range into the interior of the Yukon, and opened up the Yukon Territory to significant development by providing a major all-season transportation link for the territory for over 80 years. The railway also had an important role in the construction of the Alaska Highway, and the transport of ore from the Yukon mines to southern markets.

The narrow gauge Yukon and White Pass Railway climbs almost 873 metres from sea level at the Port of Skagway to the White Pass summit in a distance of only 32 kilometres. This steep grade over the coast mountains was constructed with manual labour; the main equipment, aside from blasting powder, consisted of picks and shovels. The railway construction was maintained during the severe working conditions of a sub-arctic winter, and necessitated the development of construction techniques for permafrost areas, as well as cold region construction logistics and management.

1.

The Beginning of the Klondike Gold Rush

George Carmack and two native companions, Skookum Jim and Dawson Charlie, made history on August 17, 1896, when they discovered gold on Bonanza Creek, a tributary of the Klondike River in the Yukon Territory. News of their discovery did not reach civilization until the following summer, but when it did it started the gold rush which spread across the continent.

Men and women sold their shops and belongings to buy passages at Vancouver, Victoria, or Seattle on one of the coastal ships going north. From there they carried their supplies for 60 kilometres on their backs, climbing either the rugged White Pass or the Chilkoot Pass to the head of Bennett Lake. Once at Bennett Lake they constructed makeshift boats and rafts for an 800 kilometre trip to Dawson City. Before the 1898 winter freezeup more than 7,000 watercraft, carrying 30,000 gold seekers, were registered with the North West Mounted Police on the Klondike River system.

Gold-seekers who headed for the Klondike had to choose between the shorter, steeper Chilkoot Pass (1140 metres elevation), or the longer, lower White Pass (873 metres elevation).

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Figure 1: Pack trail up to the White Pass and railway cut in the upper left background.

As the White Pass is lower in elevation than Chilkoot Pass, pack animals could be used to pack supplies. The trail, however, was extremely difficult. The route crossed swamps, bogs, canyons, dense forests, and areas of large boulders. With the thousands of pack animals and prospectors tramping down the trail during the initial rush, it soon became difficult for animals to walk over.

2.

The Dream of a Railway

In the mid 1880s a longtime northern ship captain, William Moore, predicted that a gold rush would eventually occur in the Yukon. In 1887 Captain Moore stated that a wagon road could be built through the then unnamed White Pass, and even a railway, when the need arose.

Captain Moore went as far as to construct a wharf in Skagway in 1887 and post a 160 acre parcel of land. He emphasized a number of advantages of the White Pass as a route to the Yukon in comparison to the all water route up the Yukon River from the Bering Sea. These advantages included that once a trail was completed to the navigable source of the river, sternwheel river boats could then be brought into service to move freight and passengers downstream; thus the White Pass could be used for a much longer period during the season than any other route. The White Pass route would also accommodate tidewater facilities for ocean-going vessels and a year round ice free port. This was unlike the community of Dyea, which was at the beginning of the Chilkoot Pass, where freight and passengers would have to be transferred from ship to the muddy beaches by barges and small boats.

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The first preliminary survey of the White Pass was conducted in 1892 on the instructions of British Columbia's Surveyor General. The survey reported that the White Pass was impractical as a route to the Yukon interior.

In 1896 an English civil engineer, representing British investors, assessed that a railway could not be built through the Chilkoot Pass unless someone financed the construction of a long tunnel through the mountain beneath the pass itself. His assessment of White Pass stated that there did not appear to be any serious obstacles to construction at the lower elevations.

The first presentation of this assessment to the British investors (the Syndicate) about a railway into the Yukon was met with a mixture of disbelief and complete humour. However, this skepticism soon changed once the gold rush began.

In the final months of 1897 Skagway became the focal point of discussions, plans, and activities in widely separated parts of the world. In three countries, players began the battle for control of the freight in and out of the Yukon.

In January 1898, more than 20 applications had been made to the Canadian provincial and federal governments for the incorporation of various railway enterprises, all of which had the Klondike for their goal.

In early February 1898, it was announced that the Syndicate was ready to start construction.

They also announced that the railway could be constructed from Skagway to Lake Bennett in ninety days and that the railway could be in full operation by August of 1898. The track gauge would be 1.07 metres (narrow gauge), and the grade would not exceed 3 percent.

In Skagway a chance meeting between the Syndicate engineers and a Canadian railway contractor initiated the construction organization for the work to proceed. All agreed that the building of a railway through the White Pass would be an extremely labour intensive undertaking, requiring a reasonably stable work force with an extensive range of skills. The work would be hard and hazardous, and because much of it would be constructed under sub-arctic weather conditions, any men employed in the railway's work gang would be tested to their limits.

Figure 2: Working on one of the many rock cuts in the construction of the railway.

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An initial capital cost estimate for the construction from Skagway to Bennett Lake was $1,570,000. An initial calculation on the investment return suggested that over a five month operating period, the operating and maintenance cost would be $203,000 and the fees charged for freight would be $3,300,000. This represented a potential profit of over $3,000,000.

3.

The Construction to the White Pass

A wide variety of engineering and construction problems were present in a distance of 32 kilometres between Skagway and the White Pass. These problems included more than just ice shrouded cliffs. During the winter months temperatures could reach -50°C; there would be long hours of winter darkness, deep snows, and high winds. Also, the problem of supplies was imminent because the closest commercial and industrial centre was 1600 kilometres to the south.

A first visual survey of the eastern bank of the route identified blocks of broken granite of every size and shape. The slope stability was also a concern because the removal of material at the toe of the slope could bring down avalanches of rock; for this reason the east side of the valley was initially rejected.

Figure 3: Railway grade below White Pass.

Five survey parties conducted independent surveys along both sides of the pass and all five surveys revealed advantages along their selected routes. On the west side, the rock footing was superior, but the nature of the terrain imposed a steep grade. On the east side, the footing appeared less secure, but valuable grade-reducing distance could be gained.

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The final factor in the survey equation was to find a route through the natural obstacles that was capable of providing maximum gradients of less than four percent and curves of no more than sixteen degrees. A final route was plotted 31.554 kilometres in length along the east side of the valley from Skagway to the White Pass summit.

Although a number of the senior staff were Canadian, there was some doubt about the quality of the work to be performed. American construction was generally considered to be cheap and flimsy by engineers and contractors in England. However, this doubt was soon put to rest as the construction proceeded.

Leap-frogging workers around major obstacles became part of the construction strategy. As soon as a breakthrough was achieved at a particularly difficult point on the line, the initial cuts and work trails beyond had already been completed, making a rough but immediate linkup possible.

As the end of September 1898 approached, 27 kilometres of grade had been completed and 20 kilometres of railway were in operation. It was now known that some sections of the railway were costing as much as $75,000 per kilometre, and the least cost per kilometre was $6,000.

The average cost from Skagway to Glacier Station (22 kilometres from Skagway) was $38,000 per kilometre. Added to this was the fact that the cost of coal in Skagway was approximately 8 times the cost in the south.

Figure 4: One of the many major rock cuts along railway grade.

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In mid November of 1898 the railway was employing 1400 men and had spent nearly $1,200,000 on construction. All it had to show for this effort was 21 kilometres of operational track. The discontinuous grade between Skagway and the summit was still solidly blocked in key places by overhanging cliffs and large canyons.

One of the major obstacles was a 365 metre wide canyon which would require a cantilever bridge. To save time a switchback was constructed to convey the trains from one side of the canyon to the other. The track reached the summit of White Pass on February 18, 1899, approximately five and a half months behind the original schedule.

The thirty-seven bridges built south of the White Pass summit in 1899 had a combined length of 1250 metres. In addition, hundreds of metres of snow fence, to control drifting snow, were being erected in the most exposed areas along the operational portions of the track. Long snow sheds to protect the track at slide areas were also being built.

Construction continued on and the railway was completed to Bennett Lake on July 6, 1899.

There were competing tramlines in the Chilkoot Pass which were eliminated by purchasing the operations, and the railway's income from both freight and passengers rose sharply.

Upon reaching Bennett Lake, earnings began to reach about $5,000 per day; on July 10, 1899 the railway brought in an amazing $11,436.00 in freight and passenger charges.

4.

Carcross to Whitehorse

The railway construction continued with construction from Carcross to Whitehorse, leaving a 48 kilometre section between the south end of Bennett Lake and Carcross to be serviced by boat. It was anticipated that the grades to Whitehorse would not exceed 2 percent, that there would be very little rock work, and that a large proportion of the line could be constructed by teams of horses and scrapers, after clearing off the brush. This was an unrealistic initial assessment that did not recognize that beneath the surface were large areas of permanently frozen ground.

A route survey was made for the most practical alignment for the railway through the low-lying hills, ridges, swamps, and lakes. There had been no time to sink sufficient soil test holes, but those that were completed produced encouraging results. As the graders moved deeper into the valley towards Whitehorse, they found permafrost beneath the soil. The presence of permafrost created unexpected delays and increased costs because it was discovered that permafrost could be only effectively excavated by blasting.

At Lewis Lake, 15 miles from Carcross, the engineers elected to lower the water level of the lake by 3 metres to facilitate construction of the grade along the lake. This was to be completed by cutting a one metre wide trench through a 100 metre narrow, sandy ridge that contained the southern end of the lake. Unfortunately, the flow of water eroded the ditch creating a flow of water 30 metres wide and 3 metres deep.

In the end Lewis Lake had unintentionally been lowered by 21 metres, 18 metres more than planned. The end result was the need to construct two additional bridges, each nearly 15 metres high and 180 metres long. If bridge materials had not been delivered to the site before freezeup, the completion of the railway project through to Whitehorse could have been delayed by at least one year. In addition, the pile driver for the bridge piers was useless against permafrost; in setting piles the crews had to first to blast out 2 metres of frozen earth.

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Figure 5: Ken Johnson on the shore of Lewis Lake during filming of White Pass and Yukon Wits, Grit and Guts (History Channel Documentary filmed in 2004).

Another particularly difficult stretch of construction was a section of frozen quicksand approximately 60 metres in length. Dry earth was placed on top of it to insulate the quick sand enough to carry the load of the trains.

5.

Bennett City to Carcross

North along Bennett Lake, the crews had to drill and blast through the rocky points of the lake, creating numerous cuts through which the grade would eventually pass. The shattered rock was hauled by teams of horses and tipper carts, and dumped into the heads of numerous bays that intersected the surveyed grade line, creating embankments to support the grade.

The rock work along the shore of Lake Bennett was more costly than anticipated. At $150,000 per kilometre this cost greatly exceeded the ordinary cost of $6,000 per kilometre of railway.

Crews at times were able to lay steel at a rate of 4 kilometres per day. Crews lifted the rails from the flat car carrying them forward to the ties, which had already been positioned and marked to receive the 9 metre lengths of rail. Four gangs drove home the spikes - four spikes to the tie, thirty-six spikes to the rail, and seventy-two spikes to each 9 metres of track.

The final spike was set in Carcross on the 29th of July 1900, which marked the beginning for a new era of transportation in the north.

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Figure 6: Railway grade along Bennett Lake.

6.

A Railway Legacy

Regular service over the White Pass and Yukon started in August 1900. In Whitehorse a fleet of sternwheelers carried the gold seekers down the Yukon River to Dawson City.

Upon completion of the work, the railway's shareholders were still concerned about the future of Yukon mining. To date they had invested approximately $10 million in the construction of the railway, which did not include the cost of purchasing the competing transportation companies.

Their concern was abated by the news that gold shipments from the Klondike for 1900 to the first week of July totalled more the $7 million. A ship left Skagway on July 4 with $1,450,000 in her strong box.

The route of the 176 kilometre narrow gauge White Pass and Yukon Railway from Skagway to Whitehorse is one of the most beautiful in the world, but its construction was difficult and costly, at over $56,000 per kilometre on average. This was approximately 9 times the cost for typical railway construction at the time.

During World War II the U.S. Army took over the railway and the line served an important role in hauling supplies for the construction of the Alaska Highway. In 1982 economic conditions and a reduction of mining activity in the Yukon forced the railway to close. The railway opened again in 1988 to provide a tourist shuttle from Skagway to Bennett Lake.

References Johnson, Ken. White Pass and Yukon Railway - A Cold Region Engineering Milestone. 1994.

Johnson, Ken. Personal Photographs of White Pass and Yukon Railway. 2004.

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Annual General Conference Assemblée générale annuelle Edmonton, Alberta June 6-9, 2012 / 6 au 9 juin 2012

Re-Creating the Yukon Ditch Near Dawson City, Yukon Ken Johnson AECOM Abstract: The "Yukon Ditch" is an extraordinary example of the water supply technology that advanced the post gold rush era of mining in the Klondike region of the Yukon. Water was an essential element for the extraction of gold from the gold bearing soils of the valleys in the Klondike area. This need for water did not change from the use of gold pans and rocker boxes to the industrial era of gold dredges. In fact, the need for water increased dramatically with the industrial age of placer mining in the Yukon, along with the need for power to energize the industrial age machinery.

Valley slopes contained as much gold as the river bottoms, and the mining of these elevated benches was accomplished by washing the material using "hydraulic" mining, with nozzles delivering water in excess of 1030 kPa (150 psi). The pressure and volume of water to accomplish hydraulic mining was delivered to the Klondike River valley through a series of flumes, ditches and pipes, which transported water 110 kilometres from the mountain range to the north of Dawson City. This project became affectionately known as the Yukon Ditch.

The design, supply and construction technology applied to creation of the ditch used experience gained from the California gold rush 35 years before, with innovations associated with the extreme climate and geography. Very little remains of the Yukon Ditch today, but with the help century old photos, century old reports and design manuals, and topographic mapping, it has been possible to re-create the ditch and gain a new sense of the scale of this extraordinary project.

1.

The Rush and the Consolidation of the Claims

George Carmack and two aboriginal companions, Skookum Jim and Dawson Charlie, made history on August 17, 1896, when they discovered gold on Bonanza Creek, a tributary of the Klondike River in the Yukon Territory. News of their discovery did not reach civilization until the following summer, but when it did it started the gold rush which spread across the continent.

Men and women sold their shops and belongings to buy passages at Vancouver, Victoria, or Seattle on one of the coastal ships going north. From there they carried their supplies for 60 kilometres on their backs, climbing either the rugged White Pass or the Chilkoot Pass to the head of Bennett Lake.

Once at Bennett Lake they constructed makeshift boats and rafts for an 800 kilometre trip to Dawson City. Before the 1898 winter freezeup more than 7,000 watercraft, carrying 30,000 gold seekers, were registered with the North West Mounted Police on the Klondike River system.

The so called gold rush was short lived, and as much as it left a cultural legacy for the Yukon, it had limited influence on the long term gold mining of the Yukon. The reason for this is that the mining technology was crude and only effective for capturing the richest deposits of placer gold.

More efficient technologies were needed to capture the deeper low grade deposits. In addition, the individual claim system (152 metres wide) itself was inefficient because the size of an individual claim would not support anything more than mining by hand. The third limiting factor GEN-1041-1 19

was the availability of water, which was essential for the separation by washing of the heavy gold from the gravel and sand.

After the rush ended enterprising individuals began the process of removing the limitations.

Machines, called gold dredges were brought in to undertake the large scale mining and the individual claims were consolidated to provide the working space for the dredges. The final missing piece to the puzzle was the water needed to wash the gold or hydraulic mine from the higher elevations in the valleys, and electrical power for the bigger dredging machines.

Figure 1: Hydraulic Mining in the California Goldfields In 1906 the Yukon Gold Company was formed and, with the financial resources of the Guggenheims of New York, plans were made to harness water for dredging and power generation. The Klondike River was first considered for water supply, but the 100 plus metres of hydraulic head required for hydraulic mining would require the construction of a conveyance system more than 140 kilometres upstream from the goldfields at an estimated cost of $7 million (1906 dollars). This was due to the fact that the Klondike River had such a low gradient. The Chandindu River (12 Mile River) watershed from the Tombstone Mountains was considerably closer and had sufficient grade and flow for the hydraulic mining in the goldfields. "It was estimated that a water conduit to the mines near Dawson, with a capacity of 125 cubic feet per second, under a head varying from 850 to 350 feet, would be 70 miles long and would cost $3,000,000."

An integral part of this plan was also a hydro electric development to provide the power for the electrically run dredges to mine the Bonanza Creek claims. Dredges were large floating facilities that dug up the gold bearing gravels and separated the gold from the gravel by washing it through a large rotating screen and ultimately capturing the gravel in a series of riffles and mats. This was essentially the same process used for gold extraction by the individual miners, but at a much larger scale. The dredging process would leave a "worm like" mound of tailings, which may be referred to as "dredge pooh."

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Figure 2: Plan of Yukon Ditch Alignment from Tombstone River to Grand Forks

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After a great deal of lobbying in Ottawa and court battles in Dawson, the Yukon Gold Company consolidated sufficient claims and acquired the water rights for 5,000 “miners inches” (55,000 US gallons of water per minute or 210 cubic metres per minute) from the Tombstone and Little Twelve Mile Rivers north of the goldfields.

2.

The Start of Construction

Ditch construction started in 1906 with an initial priority of constructing the water supply for a power plant at the confluence of the Little 12 Mile and Chandindu Rivers. A steam operated saw mill was built, and local spruce was milled for the construction of the flume to feed the power plant. A 9 kilometre flume system (900 mm by 1200 mm) was constructed from an intake up river on the Little 12 Mile to the penstock feeding the Little 12 Mile hydroelectric plant, which consisted of two Pelton wheels connected to two 650 kilowatt generators operating under 198 metres (650 feet) of head.

The initial construction also included roads and maintenance camps to accommodate a self sufficient operation. Easy access to the outside world from the construction zone was limited to the winter months because permafrost ground becomes a spongy mass in the summer and a quagmire almost impassable when torn by traffic. For practical purposes the construction operations were as self-sufficient as possible.

All the materials and supplies needed for construction had to arrive by sternwheeler from Whitehorse before the shipping season on the Yukon River closed - this generally happened in mid to late October. The freight was unloaded and stockpiled at the Chandindu River landing 35 kilometres north of Dawson City. With the onset of cold weather freighting roads were built by clearing the land, removing the snow and building up an ice driving surface for the heavy sleds used to haul the equipment. The supplies were hauled 50 kilometres upstream to the construction camps.

As soon as the surveying was complete, the 20 metre (66 foot) right-of-way was cleared. Thick brush, deep moss, and tangled spruce trees had to then be removed. Swamp and permafrost increased the difficulty of initially clearing the land.

3.

Excavating the Ditch

Six steam shovels were purchased and mobilized from the United States to dig the ditch. The steam shovels were mounted on standard railway tracks that were moved manually as the shovel advanced. Over the course of a 24 hour day, the shovels could advance 90 metres of ditch (2.7 metres wide at the base) excavating 34 cubic metres on average. The largest of the shovels weighed 33,000 kilograms (36 tons) and was powered by a 34 kilowatt (45 horsepower) steam engine. The shovel crew consisted of the fireman, craneman, and the engineer, and a “roustabout” hauled wood and water for the shovel. In places that were too narrow for the steam shovels to work, horse drawn slipscrapers were used.

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Figure 3: Profile of Yukon Ditch Alignment from Tombstone River to Grand Forks

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Figure 4: Various Ditch Cross-sections used in Construction of the Yukon Ditch Ditching was commonly used to move water in other areas of mining; however, the construction of the Yukon Ditch required new and diverse techniques. The ditch was the cheapest and most durable way to transport the water, but was dependent on the topography. The standard ditch was 2.7 metres wide at the base and 1 metre deep. The average slope of the ditch was 0.11 percent (six feet per mile) with a range of 0.08 percent (4 feet per mile) to 0.13 percent (7 feet per mile).

The ditch construction itself required innovations for construction in thaw sensitive permafrost soils prevalent around Dawson City. Excavation required two construction seasons to achieve a stable cross-section. The ditch was initially excavated during the first summer, and then left to establish a thaw equilibrium. The upper and lower embankments usually collapsed into the excavation, and the next season, the ditch was re-excavated into thaw stable ground. The material excavated in the second season was used to create the lower embankment of the ditch.

Moss was then used to insulate the upper bank and minimize further thawing.

Depending upon the base material (sand, silt or bedrock) various construction techniques were used to create a stable, low permeability cross-section. The characteristic of the bedrock in the Dawson region is its fractured nature, which required lining with moss and mud (puddling) to create a low permeability cross-section. A road or path was built on the lower bank to provide an access route.

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Figure 5: Complete Excavated Ditch Section 4.

Flume and Piped Sections of the Ditch

Flumes and pipelines were used extensively on the Yukon Ditch where ditch excavations were impossible because of steep terrain. The flume was built from local spruce and was 1.8 metres wide (six feet), 1.2 metres deep (four feet) and had an average slope of 0.27 percent (fourteen feet per mile). The flume was generally placed on timber and log trestles to provide a stable structure for the flume. Depending upon the base material, the trestles were either anchored with pins to the slope or placed on piles driven into the ground.

The northern section of the ditch up to about kilometre 50 was predominantly constructed using flumes and pipelines. Pipelines were used to cross valleys, and the pipelines were either wood stave pipe or iron pipe. Wood stave pipe was preferred because it was about one-third of the cost of iron pipe, this included the shipping of pipe, which could be collapsed into the individual 50 mm by 300 mm (2 inch by 6 inch) wood staves. However, the wood stave pipe was generally limited to pressures of less than 61 metres of head (200 feet or 85 psi). The wood stave pipe was fabricated from California redwood.

Figure 6: Completed Flume Section of Yukon Ditch

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The wood stave pipe was constructed on site from individual 50 mm by 300 mm (2 inch by 6 inch) tongue and groove pieces that were planed before shipment. There were thirty staves to the perimeter, encircled with half inch iron bands. The bands varied in the spacing on the wood stave pipe from 25 mm to 250 mm apart depending on the anticipated pressure in the pipe.

Figure 7: Construction of Wood (California Redwood) Stave Pipe Section of Yukon Ditch Iron pipe imported from Pittsburg and Germany was utilized for areas that had a large vertical difference, as it could withstand greater water pressure; however, it was considerably more expensive to purchase and to mobilize.

Pressure boxes and spillways were built as the pipeline intake structures. The pressure box was a 3.0 metre cube constructed with board and batten, and it was connected to a flume entering the back or side of the box. A spillway with a gate system was also part of the intake structure, allowing the water level to be controlled before the water entered the pressure box.

Figure 8: Klondike River Pipeline and Bridge Crossing of Klondike River (2008 photo) GEN-1041-8 26

The largest single undertaking in the construction of the Yukon Ditch was the Klondike River pipeline. This was an iron pipe that crossed the Klondike Valley at Bear Creek with an inlet elevation of 700 metres dropping to the valley bottom at 350 metres. The construction of the Klondike River pipeline employed over 300 men for two summer seasons. The pipeline itself was 5 kilometres long and consisted of lap welded iron pipe, which was constructed using air compressors and pneumatic riveters to withstand the 350 metres of head (1150 feet or 500 psi).

A four span iron bridge carried the pipeline across the Klondike River.

The Yukon Ditch was completed and water was delivered to the area around Grand Forks on June 4, 1909. The conduit consisted of 62 km of ditch, 31 km of flume and 20 km miles of pipe.

5.

Operation and Closure of the Ditch

Maintenance camps for the Yukon Ditch were built approximately every 8 to 20 kilometres. The ditch line was categorized into Divisions, usually each Division had a camp situated within its boundaries. These housed the crews who maintained and repaired the system. Maintenance camps in the flumed areas were larger because the flumes needed additional maintenance work associated with compensating for the foundation movement by leveling the flumes and repairing leaks in the flumes. Individuals known as “ditchwalkers� completed daily inspections for leaks.

Figure 9: Abandoned Hydraulic Monitor for Hydraulic Mining on Bonanza Creek (2008 photo) The Yukon Ditch functioned with a full maintenance crew from May to October. The regular operations shut down for the winter months, but the freighting of supplies and materials began once the winter supply roads were constructed. The general winter decommissioning of the system involved draining pipes and flumes and shutting down the power plant.

Groundwater within the active layer of the soil was a significant seasonal problem. When the active layer began to freeze back in the fall, the groundwater would flow to the surface and accumulate by glaciation in the flumes. This would put pressure on the flume walls to a point that they would break. In order to protect the flume, it was filled with snow, then the groundwater would freeze on top of the snow diverting the flow over the flumes. Start-up crews headed out in the early spring to thaw the system, and complete other maintenance activities such as leveling the flumes, tightening the iron bands on the wood stave pipe, and repairing the foundation systems for the flume and pipe.

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The hydraulic mining operations of Bonanza Creek continued to show a profit until the end of the season in 1933. In 1933, a study was completed on the estimated cost of maintaining the Little Twelve Mile Power Plant as an alternative to the expanding the more accessible North Fork Power Plant (North Fork of Klondike River). The estimated cost of repairing the Yukon Ditch was $440,000, while the estimated cost for expanding the North Fork Power Plant was $530,000.

However, because of the high cost of freighting materials and supplies, the difficulty of access, and the shorter operating season on the Little Twelve Mile, it was decided to expand the North Fork system.

As mining technology advanced, so did the manufacturing of larger and more efficient pumps. A comparison of operating seasons for the ditch, versus pumping recycling water at the mining sites suggested that the hydraulic mining season would be increased by at least thirty days by pumping. As well, the use of pumps would provide more dependable and mobile operating for hydraulic mining activity. Too expensive to maintain, and delivering approximately one-fifth of the water it used to supply, it was decided in 1933 to close the Yukon Ditch permanently.

Much of the Yukon Ditch remained intact over the decades following the closure, however, with time, the spruce board flumes have rotted, and the ditch excavation and right-of-way have grown over. The redwood sections of wood stave pipe would have remained intact, but these sections were salvaged in the 1960's leaving kilometres of iron bands. Much of the iron pipe has been salvaged as well, where it was easily accessible, with the exception of a small section of the Klondike River pipeline.

Figure 10: Iron Bands Remaining After Removal of Wood Stave Pipe (2011 photo) References Bowie, A.J. A Practical Treatise on Hydraulic Mining in California. Van Nostrand. 1885.

Hogan, B. The History of the Yukon Ditch. Unpublished Report, Dawson City Museum. 1993.

Johnson, Kenneth. Personal Photographs of Klondike Mining Operations. 2008 and 2011.

Rickard, T.A. The Yukon Ditch. The Mining and Scientific Press. January 16, 1909.

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Annual General Conference Assemblée générale annuelle Edmonton, Alberta June 6-9, 2012 / 6 au 9 juin 2012

Yukon Sternwheelers and the SS Klondike Ken Johnson AECOM Abstract: The construction of the White Pass & Yukon Route (WP&YR) railway in 1900 from Skagway Alaska to Whitehorse, Yukon brought the supply centres of Vancouver and Seattle, 1600 kilometres closer to the Klondike region of the Yukon. The previous river supply route to Dawson was 2400 kilometres long and started at St. Michael, Alaska, at the mouth of the Yukon River on the Bering Sea. With the construction of the railway to the head of navigable water on the Yukon River, the river supply route was reduced to an 800 kilometre trip down the Klondike River from Whitehorse to Dawson City.

Sternwheelers became a vital part of Yukon transportation, and the Yukon River sternwheelers were designed to carry heavy cargoes downstream on a light draft and make the return trip upstream with lighter loads. The S.S. Klondike was one of these sternwheelers, originally built in Whitehorse, in 1929 by the British Yukon Navigation Company. With a cargo capacity 50 percent greater than other boats on the river at the time, it was the first sternwheeler on the Yukon River large enough to handle a cargo in excess of 272 tonnes (300 tons) without having to push a barge. Carrying general cargo and a few passengers, the S.S. Klondike would make the downstream run from Whitehorse to Dawson City – a distance of some 740 kilometres (460 mi.) in approximately 36 hours with one or two stops for wood. The upstream journey back to Whitehorse, would take four or five days and six wood-stops. The SS Klondike is now a National Historic Site of Canada.

1.

Sternwheelers on the Yukon River

In 1866 the SS Wilder became the first sternwheeler to paddle up the Yukon River. Three years later the Alaska Commercial Company introduced the regular use of sternwheelers on the lower Yukon River within the Territory of Alaska. For the remainder of the 1800's sternwheelers were used to supply the trading posts on the lower Yukon River. Operating from the port of St. Michael, Alaska, near the river's mouth on the Bering Sea, sternwheelers would carry freight and supplies, as well as fur traders and prospectors, during the short May to October navigation season.

The Klondike gold rush created a stampede of 30,000 people that overwhelmed the few sternwheelers on the river at the time. During the summer of 1897, 30 new boats were put into service on the Yukon River, and by the end of the 1897 season 60 sternwheelers were in operation on the Yukon River system. Most of these new boats operated on the lower river, below Dawson City from St. Michael, however sternwheelers were also operating on the upper Yukon river carrying people and supplies from the end of the Chilkoot and White Pass Trails to Whitehorse.

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Figure 1. Routes to the Klondike goldfields The sternwheelers operating on the upper river travelled between Bennett (at the northern end of the Chilkoot and White Pass trails) and Canyon City, 8 kilometres upstream of Whitehorse.

Rapids prevented further sternwheeler travel below Canyon City and a horse drawn tramway, running on wooden rails, was used to carry goods around Miles Canyon and the Whitehorse Rapids to a different sternwheeler downstream of the rapids. Below the rapids from Whitehorse, it was a relatively easy 740 kilometre (460 mile) journey by sternwheeler down the upper Yukon River to Dawson City.

2.

Rail and River - A Perfect Combination

On July 6, 1899, the extreme challenge of getting over the coastal passes above Skagway and Dyea was eliminated when the White Pass and Yukon Railway (WP&YR) was completed between Skagway and Bennett. A year later the rail line was completed all the way to Whitehorse bypassing both Bennett and Canyon City, thus eliminating two freight transfer points. It was now possible for goods and passengers to be transported from the port Skagway to Dawson City with only a single transfer point from railway to boat in Whitehorse.

With the completion of the rail line, WP&YR moved quickly to extend its transportation monopoly to the river as well as the rail by establishing the British Yukon Navigation Company (BYNC).

Within a short period of time BYNC succeeded in buying out all of the river boat competition establishing a monopoly on the transportation of goods and people in and out of Yukon Territory.

This dominance of transportation that would serve the Yukon Territory for the next fifty years.

Although the gold rush was short lived, the development of an efficient transportation system established Whitehorse as the supply centre for the Yukon River basin, and Dawson City as one of the down river points it served.

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Figure 2. The rail and river monopoly of the White Pass and Yukon Railway company.

3.

After the Gold Rush

While mining continued in the Klondike district, corporate mining interests were acquiring Klondike mining claims and mechanized gold dredges were replacing hand mining operations.

Individual hand miners meanwhile fanned out to work other rivers in the upper Yukon basin in search of a new bonanza.

One such river was the Stewart, which flows into the Yukon River 112 km upstream of Dawson City. It was known as the “grubstake river�, where one could reliably make enough to finance further exploration. In 1914 a hard rock silver find on a tributary of the Stewart River started a staking rush, and in 1918 a second, even richer, ore body was discovered on nearby Keno Hill which attracted the attention of corporate mining interests. By 1923 the value of silver coming out of the Mayo District had bypassed the value of gold coming out of the Klondike and the settlement of Mayo, at the head of navigation on the Stewart River, replaced Dawson City as the supply centre for the new silver mining district.

For BYNC, Mayo District silver was a boon because unlike placer gold, which was processed where is was mined, Mayo District silver was found as a component of galena, a silver lead mineral, that needed to be shipped out as ore in order to be further processed. Sternwheelers that had previously returned to Whitehorse empty now had a payload, with sacks of silver lead ore for the return trip.

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The transportation opportunity did not come without challenges because the Stewart River is shallower than the Yukon, limiting the use of Yukon River sternwheelers to the brief period of the spring flood. In 1922 BYNC built the S.S. Keno for use on the Stewart River, which was smaller than the Yukon River sternwheelers, and therefore could continuously transport supplies to Mayo and carry ore back down to Stewart Landing at the confluence of the Stewart and Yukon Rivers.

At Stewart Landing the ore would be transferred onto the Yukon River sternwheelers that would stop there on their return trip from Dawson to Whitehorse.

The Yukon sternwheelers working the main river in the 1920's did not exceed 52 meters (170 feet) in length or 10.5 meters (35 feet) in width. They could carry about 200 tonnes of cargo on a shallow draft of 1.2 meters (4 feet), however, in order to economically move ore they needed to push barges to carry the ore. This meant that the upstream run took half again as much time and fuel. The solution to moving ore upstream to Whitehorse more efficiently was to build the ore carrying S.S. Klondike.

Figure 3. Hull of sternwheeler under construction 4.

The Original Ship - SS Klondike I

The SS Klondike was in fact it was the name of two sternwheelers, and both boats ran freight between Whitehorse and Dawson City along the Yukon River from 1929 to 1936, and 1937 to 1950, respectively.

The S.S. Klondike I was built in Whitehorse, in 1929 by the BYNC. The paddle wheeler had a shallow draft, and it was specifically designed and constructed to eliminate the need to push a barge when carrying the heavy ore sacks coming out of the Mayo silver mining district upriver to Whitehorse. With a cargo capacity 50 percent greater than other boats on the river at the time, it was the first sternwheeler on the Yukon River large enough to handle a cargo in excess of 272 tonnes (300 tons) without having to push a barge.

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The boat had a length of 64 m (210 feet) and a width of 12.5 m (42 feet), with a hull depth of 1.5 m (6 feet) and a loaded draught of 1 m (3.3 feet). The gross tonnage was 1226 tonnes (1362 t) and the cargo capacity was 270 tonnes (approx 300 t). The boat operated with a crew of 23 in 1940 and carried seventy-five 1st & 2nd Class passengers.

Figure 4. Construction at Whitehorse Shipyards showing the installation of futtocks (ribs) The construction of the SS Klondike was a major undertaking for the Whitehorse Shipyards given its size, and the fact that all of the construction materials were brought in from the outside. The construction of the sternwheeler shipyard involved a well staged construction project. The initial stage was the laying out of the keelsons (multiple keel sections) and the box cribbing support system. Futtocks (ribs) were constructed adjacent to the main construction and sequentially installed at 400 mm (16 inches) on centre. The futtocks were generally built from sections of wood including the "knees" or curved transitions from the bottom to the straight sides; the majority of the knees were laminated sections of wood that were bolted together. However "grown" knees were used where the transition occurred from the straight sides to the beginning of the rounding of the hull.

The planking for the boat building was equivalent to a grade #1 douglas fir (construction grade), which means that material had to mainly clear with up to 15% knots permitted in a uniform distribution. Any knots would be very tight, and no more than 19mm in diameter, and with a frequency of no more than one knot per meter of length. The lumber milling had to be "off the heart center" with no sapwood, and no less than 12 growth rings per 25 mm (inch) of thickness.

To cut the planking a shipyard bandsaw was used (42" dia. wheel) for the cutting of the rolling bevels required for the hull planking.

The engines of the SS Klondike were 2 compound jet-condenser type producing 390 kilowatts (525 horsepower), and the boiler was a locomotive type (fire tube) manufactured in 1901 with a working pressure of 1270 kpa (184 psi).

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Figure 5. Steam engine power supply Initially the S.S. Klondike I operated between Whitehorse and Stewart Landing about 550 kilometers downriver. On the downstream run it would carry freight bound for the Mayo Mining District to the east of Stewart Landing. On the return trip it would carry silver-lead ore from the Mayo District that had been brought down the Stewart River aboard smaller sternwheelers such as the S.S. Keno. In Whitehorse the ore would be transferred to the WP&YR for shipment by rail to Skagway, Alaska.

The effects of the depression soon saw the S.S. Klondike moved to the Whitehorse to Dawson City run where it carried both passengers and freight, though it continued to be regarded primarily as a cargo vessel. Carrying general cargo and a few passengers, the S.S. Klondike I would make the downstream run from Whitehorse to Dawson City – a distance of some 740 kilometres (460 mi.) in approximately 36 hours with one or two stops for wood. The upstream journey back to Whitehorse, including a stop at Stewart Landing to take on ore, would take four or five days and six wood-stops.

The Klondike I ran aground in 1936 in the area known as Thirty Mile, and the wood hull of the boat was totally wrecked. The accident occurred when the riverboat was coming around a bend in the river on its way north. This bend had a rock bluff on the west side, and navigating around this sharp point required considerable skill and consideration of a tricky current. The pilot failed to make allowances for the current and the Klondike slid and crashed into the rock bluff tearing out the whole side. After hitting the bluff, the boat hit a rock that tore the steering loose; the Klondike then started to drift without steering down the river, with the crew attempting to get a line to shore, however the current was too strong. The Klondike drifted on the Yukon River before it came to rest on a sandbar.

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Figure 6. SS Klondike I wreck at Thirty Mile in 1936.

5.

The Replacement - SS Klondike II

Immediately after the wreck of the SS Klondike I the BYNC completed a salvage operation and the top most decks and the mechanical systems were used to build the Klondike II the following year. The total cost of the reconstruction was $105,000. The S.S. Klondike II was a virtual carbon copy of the predecessor built in the Whitehorse shipyards and launched in May, 1937.

Figure 7. Spring launching of the SS Klondike at the Whitehorse Shipyards

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The outbreak of World War 2 resulted in a decline in silver prices and consequently the early 1940's were lean years for the Klondike as the freight handling capacity was not required. One entire season was spent on the dry dock of the of the Whitehorse Shipyard. Another was spent working on the lower river in support of the war effort, transporting freight and personal for the building of the Alaska Highway. Increased silver-lead ore production in the late 1940's put the Klondike back into regular service, but the opening of an all weather road between Whitehorse and Mayo in 1950 saw the career as an ore hauler come to an end. It continued on the Whitehorse to Dawson run until 1952 when the Mayo Road was extended to Dawson, signaling an end to the era of riverboat transportation on the Yukon River.

In an attempt to salvage the career of their flagship, BYNC refurbished the S.S. Klondike as a cruise ship. Though the trips were popular, the high cost of operation ended the brief sojourn as a passenger ship. In August 1955 the S.S. Klondike II, the last sternwheeler working on the Yukon River, steamed into Whitehorse for the final time and it was beached in the Whitehorse shipyards.

Figure 8. Dining room for first class passengers on SS Klondike II 6.

S.S. Klondike Legacy as a National Historic Site

In 1960 the S.S. Klondike II was donated to the government of Canada by WP&YR. In 1966 it was moved from the Whitehorse Shipyards on the north side of Whitehorse to the present location where it has undergone several stages of restoration. The intent of the restoration is to maintain the integrity of the structural framing, mechanical systems, original materials, historic fabric, and the interior and exterior functional organization of the boat. Also significant to the S.S. Klondike is its proximity and visual access to the Yukon River for the purposes of historical interpretation.

A major stabilization project was completed from 1974 to 1979 to repair or replace structural hull components which are badly deteriorated. A second major restoration occurred from 2000 to 2004 with the intent re-canvassing of the vessel; upgrading of the sprinkler system (fire suppression system); arresting of dry rot within the hull and the superstructure, including the replacement of rotting timbers, conserving original wood when possible, and repainting of the vessel.

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Figure 9. Reconstruction of hull of SS Klondike II Another notable part of the 2000 to 2004 restoration work the reconditioning of an old shipyard bandsaw (42" dia. wheel) from the Parks Canada industrial artifact collection in Dawson City.

With this saw back in service, cutting of the rolling bevels required for the hull planking was made that much easier and greatly increased the productivity of the shipwright crew.

The SS Klondike now sits in permanent retirement overlooking the Yukon River. It was formally designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1967.

Figure 10. SS Klondike National Historic Site in Whitehorse.

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References Habiluk, Pat. Project Manager for 2000 to 2004 SS Klondike Restoration Project. Personal Communications. 2011 and 2012.

Parks Canada. SS Klondike Hull Stabilization. 2003.

Parks Canada. S.S. Klondike National Historic Site of Canada: Management Plan. http://www.pc.gc.ca/lhn-nhs/yt/ssklondike/plan

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CSCE 2007 Annual General Meeting & Conference Congrès annuel et assemblée générale annuelle SCGC 2007

Yellowknife, Northwest Territories / Yellowknife, Territoires du nord-ouest June 6-9, 2007 / 6 au 9 juin 2007

Yukon Aerial Tramways - Wire, Wheels and Buckets in the Canadian North Ken Johnson, Earth Tech Canada Kevin Johnson, City of Nelson B.C. Abstract The placer gold mining “rushes” of British Columbia and the Yukon in the late 1800’s gave way to a silver “rush” in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s in the same regions of Canada. The southern interior of British Columbia experienced a rush that whose legacies still endure to this day, whereas the Yukon’s silver rush is all but forgotten.

Small scale placer mining required a fairly low level of technology compared to the demands for silver mining. Silver mining required modern technology for extraction, transportation and processing, and the engineers and manufacturers of the day were able to respond with many marvelous machines. Key to many silver mining operations of a century ago was the aerial tramway used for transporting ore from the mine site to a smelting operation, or some other inter model transportation facility. These “wires, wheels and buckets” were able to operate on gravity alone, and transported ore over rugged terrain.

The pioneer of aerial tramways in North America was an engineer named Byron Riblet, who got his start in the Kootenay Region of British Columbia. The early influence of the Riblet expertise extended across the northwest, and ultimately into the Yukon with the construction of the Montana Mountain aerial tramway in 1905. This installation was over 5.5 kilometres in length with a vertical rise of over 1,000 metres, and one recording setting span of nearly 900 metres. The Montana Mountain mining activity, and the associated community of Conrad City, Yukon were short lived, however, much of the Riblet aerial tramway endures to this day as an historical artifact to the Yukon silver mining boom.

1. The History of Yukon Mining Although the gold strike of the Klondike River is the most famous mining discovery in the Yukon, previous discoveries were made in Yukon River tributaries downstream of Dawson City toward the community of Circle, Alaska, 300 kilometres away. Production began in the mid-1880s with discoveries along the Fortymile River, which is 75 kilometres downstream from Dawson City. In 1895, gold was found on a series of creeks just downstream of Dawson City, and by 1896 active mining was taking place on all the principle streams in the region around Circle, Alaska. The Klondike River gold discovery in August 1896 was the discovery that brought fame to the region, and a stampede of 40,000 people.

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In the years following the Klondike Gold Rush, the population of the Yukon Territory fell dramatically as the placer gold fields, worked by an individual or small groups of miners, were taken over by large river dredging operations. These dredges were owned by well capitalized foreign corporations, processed enormous amounts of gold-bearing gravel, and needed few men to operate. Mining dredges were in fact encouraged by the Territorial government, which saw them as the key to the economic future of the Yukon.

For the independent miners who remained in the Yukon, any rumour of a new mineral discovery was cause for a stampede to the area. The most dramatic of these stampedes occurred in the spring of 1905, with the development of silver claims on Montana Mountain between Windy Arm and Bennett Lake in the southern Yukon.

2. The Geology, Geography and Topography of Montana Mountain The geology of southwestern Yukon and the Windy Arm area is complex as a result of the past 200 million years of movement of the plates that make up the earth's surface. Montana Mountain is situated at the junction of the Whitehorse Trough and the Coast Plutonic Belt, which collided 150 million years ago. The subsequent buckling of the earth's crust and the volcanic activity associated with that collision, helped form the Coastal Mountain range.

At Montana Mountain the movements along the geological formations have resulted in a complex weaving of the volcanic and sedimentary rocks that have formed at various times over the past 50 to 150 million years. Most of the important mineral veins have been found in the band of minerals that forms the shell of Montana Mountain. In this formation, gold and silver have deposited from mineral rich thermal waters in the fissures opened and closed by the plate movements.

Figure 1. Montana Mountain region

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Montana Mountain and the nearby peaks are located just north of the 60th parallel, and the British Columbia – Yukon border (see Figure 1). Montana Mountain is the highest of all the peaks in the immediate area at 2200 metres; the surrounding peaks are generally 1800 metres or lower. The mountain is located about ½ way between Bennett Lake and the Windy Arm of Tagish Lake, which both run north-south, and are both situated at an elevation of 655 metres. Drainage from the mountain area flows west into Bennett Lake, east into Windy Arm and north into Nares Lake and Tagish Lake.

Access to Montana Mountain developed from the north because of the gradual terrain slope in the 11 kilometres up from Carcross. To the east and west, the terrain drops off relatively steeply in 7 to 8 kilometres down to Bennett Lake and Windy Arm. The mineral deposit discoveries of the mountain were within 5 kilometres of Windy Arm, so the development access focused in this area. This proximity of Windy Arm lead to the development of the 5700 metre long Montana Mountain tram, which started from a small bay on Windy Arm, and ended 1060 metres above, to the west, at the Mountain Hero claim (see Figure 2).

Figure 2. Montana Mountain tramway alignment southwest from Windy Arm 3. The Technology of Hardrock Mining and Aerial Tramways Small scale placer gold mining required a fairly low level of technology compared to the demands of hardrock silver mining. For smaller operations, hardrock mining was still back-breaking, dangerous work for the men underground, using techniques that had changed little since men first started following veins of gold and silver into the earth (see Figure 3). Tunnels were kept as small as possible, ventilation was poor, and the only light in the working area was provided by candles. The use of explosives was limited almost entirely to the first few metres of a new tunnel because of the problem of venting the tunnel after the blast.

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Figure 3. Tunnelling on Montana Mountain Hardrock mining on a large scale required modern technology for extraction, transportation and processing, and at the turn of the century mining technology was advancing rapidly at the leading edge of scientific development and industrial requirements. The traditional means of transporting ore from a mine site was by horse with ore in a leather sack (called rawhiding); this means of transportation was obviously very inefficient, and limited large scale mine development for sites any significant distance from boat or rail access.

The advancement of tramways in the transportation of ore came about as result of innovations in the application of wire rope in the mid 1850’s. The innovations of Andrew Hallidae in the 1870’s, not only produced aerial tramways, but also the cable streetcars that remain an icon in San Francisco. The principles of the first aerial trams were quite simple, buckets were attached to cables, which were supported on towers with sheaves (wheels) for the cable to run on – gravity did all the work to pull the buckets down from the loading point to the dumping point. In practice, a tramway system is a reasonable complex mechanical system that must manoeuvre over rugged terrain. Filling and emptying stationary buckets could be accomplished quite easily, but a bucket in motion required a sophisticated series of wheels, track and levers to operate.

An experienced young engineer from Spokane Washington named Byron Riblet ventured into the Kootenays in the late 1890’s just as the silver boom exploded in this region. By chance he received an assignment to design a tramway for a local mine using the cable streetcar experience from Spokane, and observing the existing tramway systems in the region. In typical engineering fashion Riblet recognized that the current state of technology could use some serious improvement in all aspects.

The innovations of Riblet included wire rope and bucket clips, sheaves, tramway derricks (towers), bucket loaders, and bucket dumpers; almost 20 patents were registered by Riblet in the period of 1900 to 1910 (see Figure 4).

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Figure 4. Patented Riblet tramway components: (L-R) bucket, tower and rope grip attachment.

4. The Constructors and the Construction By the time of the Windy Arm “rush� in 1905, a flamboyant American mining promoter named John Howard Conrad had acquired control of most of the newly-discovered gold-silver-lead deposits. Conrad managed to raise the enormous amounts of capital required for development work from some of the most high-profile financiers in Canada, the United States and Great Britain. In August, 1905, sixty men were working on three main groups of properties; on the adjoining Mountain Hero and Montana claims, forty men were working three eight-hour shifts, another twenty working on the nearby Venus and Uranus claims. Shafts and tunnels were being driven in at least a dozen places.

Conrad made a quick trip to Seattle in July, 1905, and ordered a Riblet aerial tramway. A deal was made for the tramway to be installed as soon as possible to assist in the development, and to haul ore from the Mountain Hero Mine.

Figure 5. Montana Mountain tramway tower #6 assembly in 1906.

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In early August, 1905 the first materials for the Montana Mountain tramway arrived from Spokane, Washington at Skagway, Alaska. A large crew of men loaded twenty-two rail cars on the White Pass and Yukon Railway with timbers for the towers, lumber for the terminals, and several tons of iron and steel tramway parts. Construction began five days later when the materials arrived on to the beach at Windy Arm. Twenty-five mules were diverted to the task of getting the materials up the mountain to a construction crew of fifty men brought in for the job from British Columbia.

The tramway, which cost $80,000 (1905$), was of bi-cable design, with the ore cars riding on a heavy stationary support cable while being pulled by a lighter "running" cable (see Figure 5). Crossing over two canyons, the tramway was designed with the longest span between towers in the world at 900 metres.

Suspended from the cable were about 80 ore buckets, each carrying 0.33 cubic metres of ore; travelling at a little over 8 kilometres miles per hour, it took about fifty minutes for a bucket to travel from the mine to the discharge terminal at Windy Arm. There were also several lumber carriers, and several single-passenger chairs which were attached to the cable as needed, allowing men to reach the mine quickly, and in reasonable comfort physically. One of the factors that needed to be calculated into the design of the tramway was the fairly uncommon situation of using the tramway to transport some of the smaller construction materials up the mountain as well as ore down. As a result, the support cable for the ore cars travelling up the mountain were 28.5 millimetre in diameter instead of the standard 19 millimetre.

During September, 1905, work went on at a frantic pace to get as much as possible done before the snow fell. The 27,400 metres of steel cable needed to complete the tramway was delivered, and the heavy work of laying the cable began. The simple broken capstan, used to layout the steel cable, was delaying the completion of the tramway, and unfortunately a replacement capstan shipped from Seattle had been the wrong part. The White Pass blacksmith shops in Skagway were finally approached to solve the problem, and after they attempted to repair the broken casting, with no success, they decided to cast a new one. The capstan was installed in early November and the cable installation continued. A particularly mild spell of weather had melted most of the snow off the south slopes, greatly facilitating the work that was expected to be a 10 day operation. The Montana Mountain tramway was first operational in late June 1906.

Once operational, the tramway was bringing down ore from the Mountain Hero Mine and the adjacent mines, however, the practical limits on tramway length and tower spacing had apparently been exceeded because breakdowns plagued the operation of the tramway. The tramway was designed primarily to carry ore down the mountain, with gravity as its only means of power. To get buckets carrying 100 kilograms of supplies to travel up the slope, it was necessary for the down-going buckets to be loaded with about 500 kilograms of rock. As limited ore was available to load the buckets, it was necessary to keep loading loose rock from the mountainside into buckets in order to power the tramway.

By 1907 Conrad was employing over 350 men in the mines and an ore concentrator, while he had another 150 men were scouring the hills in search of further rich mineral deposits. Conrad City had developed into a community with a population of 500 people, six hotels, hardware and grocery stores, butcher, barber and blacksmith shops, several churches, a hospital, a newspaper, a telegraph office, a District mining recorder and a Mountie detachment.

5. The Legacy of Montana Mountain Despite the reports of one year previously, the tunnel on the Mountain Hero claim, at the top of the tramway, had not found the main Montana vein. The vein was ultimately a small one, which soon tapered off. When further tunnelling revealed only more barren ground, work on the claim was suspended. The location of the tramway quickly became quite inconvenient for ore conveyance because of its distance from the other nearby claims, although it was used to carry supplies from Conrad City to the claims.

By 1909 several thousand tons of ore had been shipped off to a southern smelter. Although some of the ore graded as high as $5,000 per tonne, in general, the ore veins proved to be discontinuous, and of a

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considerably lower grade. The stories of the richness of the mines were too good to be true.

Conrad Consolidated Mines slipped into bankruptcy in April of 1912.

In spite of the ultimate failure of the Montana Mountain mining venture, it can be claimed with justification, that the project investment of upwards to $1 million in capital, thrust the southern Yukon out of a stagnating post Klondike depression.

Figure 6. Montana Mountain tramway tower #6 in 2006.

The lasting legacy of the Montana Mountain mines is that the cold climate of the mine’s location has preserved the long forgotten technology of aerial mining tramways. The many Riblet tramways constructed in southern Canada have either fallen to scavenging or to the elements many decades ago, and the historical records of aerial tramway technology are essentially non existent. Even the Riblet Tramway Company itself has little or no records of the aerial tramway history of the company’s founder, focussing on the legacy of the aerial ski lifts that developed directly from the mining tramway technology.

A visit to the abandoned townsite of Conrad City, and the slopes of Montana Mountain reveals many tramway towers in pristine condition after a century standing on the slopes of the mountain. The old packhorse trail that was originally built in 1905 for the tramway construction by the legendary Yukon road builder Sam McGee, has been reclaimed, and provides a trip back in time to the 18 month silver boom of the Yukon.

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6. References Lundberg, Murray. Fractured Veins and Broken Dreams: Montana Mountain and the Windy Arm. 1996.

Wells, Martin. Tramway Titan: Byron Riblet, Wire Rope and Western Resource Towns. 2005.

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Annual General Conference AssemblĂŠe gĂŠnĂŠrale annuelle Edmonton, Alberta June 6-9, 2012 / 6 au 9 juin 2012

Gold Dredging in the Klondike and Number 4 Ken Johnson AECOM Abstract: The large scale mining era in the north that followed the Klondike Gold Rush pioneered techniques in northern planning, northern transportation, northern water resource development, northern mining, and the associated construction that is unique to the north because of the cold weather, permafrost, and isolation.

Associated with the mining was the application of bucket dredges for mining placer gold. Dredge #4 is the largest vessel of its kind in North America for picking up gravel from a creek bed washing it with water to separate the gold and discarding waste rock at the discharge end. Floating on a pond of its owns creation the dredge lifted the gold bearing gravel by means of a chain of buckets. The buckets emptied into a hopper which fed into an inclined revolving circular screen (or trommel) where the gravel was washed by immense volumes of water. The fine material passed through the holes in the trommel into gold saving tables where it was sluiced and the gold was collected in a series of riffles and mats. Dredge #4 is 2/3 the size of a football field and 8 stories high. It has a displacement weight of over 3,000 tons (2,722 t), with a 16 cubic foot (.45 cubic metre) bucket capacity. Dredge #4 originally constructed in 1912 and was operational on the Klondike River in 1913; the dredge was completed reconstructed at a new operating site in 1941 using the original machinery and replacing all of the timber. The dredge is now a National Historic Site under the management of Parks Canada.

1.

The Gold Rush and the Introduction of Industrial Mining

George Carmack and two aboriginal companions, Skookum Jim and Dawson Charlie, made history on August 17, 1896, when they discovered gold on Bonanza Creek, a tributary of the Klondike River in the Yukon Territory. News of their discovery did not reach civilization until the following summer, but when it did it started the gold rush which spread across the continent.

Men and women sold their shops and belongings to buy passages at Vancouver, Victoria, or Seattle on one of the coastal ships going north. From there they carried their supplies for 60 kilometres on their backs, climbing either the rugged White Pass or the Chilkoot Pass to the head of Bennett Lake.

Once at Bennett Lake they constructed makeshift boats and rafts for a 800 kilometre trip to Dawson City. Before the 1898 winter freezeup more than 7,000 watercraft, carrying 30,000 gold seekers, were registered with the North West Mounted Police on the Klondike River system The so called gold rush was short lived and as much as it left a cultural legacy for the Yukon, it had limited influence on the long term gold mining of the Yukon. The reason for this is that the mining technology was crude and only effective for capturing the richest deposits of placer gold.

More efficient technologies were needed to capture the deeper low grade deposits, the mining claims were too small for efficient operations and there was insufficient water for large scale mining. After the rush ended enterprising individuals began the process of removing the limitations. Machines, called gold dredges were brought in to undertake the large scale mining and the individual claims were consolidated to provide the working space for the dredges.

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Figure 1: One of the original gold dredges operating in the Klondike circa 1900 Placer dredging, developed in New Zealand in the 1860's and refined in California by the late 1890's, was the most effective method of mining low grade placer gold deposits. The key was handling large volumes of gravel and sluicing out gold; a dredge could do the work of hundreds if not thousands of men. In September 1898, the first dredge in the Yukon began working the Yukon River.

In 1905 large corporate interests had organized the land holdings covering much of the Klondike River valley and adjacent creeks. Large scale dredge operations began with a modest 0.21 cubic metres (7.5 cubic foot) dredge; dredge size was indicated by the size of the buckets scooping up the gravel, and a large bucket size meant a larger dredge. To support the operation of a dredge, a camp was required with a bunkhouse, several warehouses, a wood-fired electric power plant and a machine shop.

A much larger and more sophisticated operation was soon to follow, and by 1910, construction of a 7500 kW (10,000 horsepower) hydroelectric plant, capable of operating year round, and the erection of the world’s largest dredge, with 0.45 cubic metre (16 cubic foot) buckets, was underway. Powering the dredge required electricity, which was provided by the development of hydro electric projects on the 12 Mile River, 40 kilometres north of Dawson City, and the North Klondike River, 30 kilometres east of Dawson City. Although the large dredge cost almost a half million dollars, its immediate financial success prompted an order of two more sister dredges in 1912.

All of the machinery and wood structures used in the construction of the dredges were shipped unassembled from the south. The unassembled machinery and wood was shipped on a route that included ocean vessels, narrow gauge railways, and stern wheeler river boats. The operation of the dredges required the development transportation systems (land and river) capable of managing individual components that weighed as much as 20 tons. The transportation logistics for the equipment alone were immense with a 2500 kilometre transportation route from the Port of Vancouver to Dawson City. Once on site in the Klondike the equipment required complete assembly.

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The dredges were the end beneficiary of a civil engineering works that included the White Pass and Yukon Railways (transportation of machinery and timber), the Yukon River sternwheelers (transportation of machinery and timber), the Klondike Mines Railway (transportation of machinery and timber), the Yukon Ditch (a 115 km series flumes, ditches, piping used to supply water for hydraulic mining), and the 12 Mile River and North Klondike hydro electric projects (used to provide power for dredges operating in the area).

2.

How Dredges Work

A gold dredge is essentially a giant gold pan mounted on a floating barge. One end of the dredge picks up the gravel from the creek bed, the middle section washes the gravel with water and separates out the gold, and the other end discards the waste rock and water.

The digging ladder is a large triangular steel box hinged at the rear. Dredge buckets, connected to each other with large steel pins, are wrapped around the length of the digging ladder, much like a chain saw blade. The buckets on Dredge #4 weighed almost 2100 kg (4,600 lbs) each and lifted almost 800 kg (a ton) of gravel. The bucket line, equipped with 68 of these buckets, could dig 14 metres (45 feet) below water level. Every minute the ladder lifted as much gravel as three men could shovel in a whole day. Pivoting on the large spud anchoring the back, the dredge was winched from side to side cutting a great arc in the gravel face and leaving a pile of coarse tailings behind.

On its way up the digging ladder the “bow decker” scraped the clay off the lips of the bucket ensuring every piece of gold went through the dredge. At the top the buckets emptied into a large dump box. Tumbling through the box, the gravel was washed into a large, sloping, rotating cylinder known as the “trommel”. The trommel, perforated through its length with holes from 6 mm (¼ inch) diameter at its upper end to slots 18 mm to 37 mm ( ¾ inches to 1 ½ inches) at the lower end, weighs 73 tonnes (80 tons) and is 15 metres (50 feet) long and 3 metres (10 feet) in diameter. Suspended in the trommel is a large pipeline spraying water up the slope to ensure the gravel was well washed and that all the lumps are broken up.

Boulders and large stones rolled down the length of the trammel and onto a conveyor belt that carried them up the stacker, dropping them 37 metres (120 feet) behind the dredge. The sweeping action of the dredge operation marked the dredge’s passage with the deposit of tailings in a distinctive arc pattern.

Gravel, sand, and gold were washed through the trommel perforations into a distributor box underneath and from there flowed onto the sluice tables. The sluice tables are long troughs with coconut matting and steel riffles on the bottom. A constant flow of water kept all the material moving down the sluices. The heavier gold, caught in the matting and riffles, stays behind.

Three quarters of the gold was caught in the first 1.25 metres (4 feet) of coconut matting with another fifth concentrated in the small distributor. Waste gravel and water spilled over the stern into the dredge pond.

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Figure 2: Operating components of a gold dredge

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Figure 3: Exterior of rotating trommel in Dredge #4.

3.

Building Dredge # 4

Dredge No. 4 is two thirds the size of a football field and 8 stories high. It has a displacement weight of over 2700 tonnes (3,000 tons)). The dredge could dig 17 metres (48 feet) below water level, and 5 metres (17 feet) above water level using hydraulic monitors and washing the gravel banks down. The dredge has a pumping capacity of 19 cubic metres per minute (5000 USGPM).

The cost of the dredge in 1912 was about $500,000 ($12 million today).

Dredge #4 originally constructed in 1912, and was operational on the Klondike River in 1913. By the First World War a dozen dredges, including some of the largest in the world, churned through the valleys of the Klondike region.

Dredge #4 was purchased from the Marion Steam Shovel Co. of Ohio. All the lumber for the dredges was precut in southern British Columbia and ready for assembly. Shipped from Vancouver, the dismantled dredges went over the coastal mountains from the ocean port of Skagway by the White Pass and Yukon Route Railway to Whitehorse at the head of navigation on the Yukon River. At Whitehorse the platforms and warehouses were choked with the thousands of tons of freight; some of the crates weighed over 20 tons. Stern wheeler boats relayed the material down the Yukon River through the summer of 1912.

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Figure 4: Dredge #4 resting on Bonanza Creek On a site near the Dawson City townsite, almost 200 men and two steam shovels began preparing a large square pit 4.5 metres (15 feet) deep for the construction of the hull. The Klondike Mines Railway, its main line running just beside the construction pit, was busy hauling machinery and lumber from the Yukon River docks at Dawson to the site. By mid-August 1912 the hull framing was completed, and about 300 carpenters, pipefitters, and mechanics continued the work on the superstructure until cold weather stopped construction.

Freeze-up on the Yukon River at the end of October, 1912 stopped a supply sternwheeler on route from Whitehorse carrying the last hundred tons of dredge machinery, at the Indian River, about 40 kilometres (25 miles) south of Dawson. In February, 1913 a winter road was cleared with a snow plough to provide access to the stranded sternwheeler. Twenty horses and several rigs began hauling the remaining machinery up to the dredge assembly site.

By mid-March a small crew began to prepare the dredge for completion. As the weather warmed and the delayed equipment arrived more workers were hired. The machinery was installed, the superstructure painted, and by early May the huge dredge was ready to start to work.

From its construction berth Dredge #4 started working east through land consolidated into one claim years before. As the dredge headed east it turned into the Bonanza Creek basin. The flats in this area had been a popular site for market gardens since the gold rush. As the dredging advanced 26 cabins were torn down or moved to make way for the dredge. Although some of the buildings belonged to long time residents, there was little protection for them because the Placer Mining Act gave the mining rights precedence over any surface rights. The land owners were paid the equivalent of the land clearing costs, assisted with moving their buildings, and paid for any vegetables ready for harvest.

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4.

Operations Surrounding Klondike Dredges

Five years of ground preparation is generally required before a dredge can mine the “paystreak” section of a gravel deposit. After prospecting with drills, the area with sufficient gold present is outlined as the ore body or “dredge limit”. Then the vegetation and any previous development must be cleared. Once exposed, the frozen muck begins to thaw and this is washed away to along the thawing to continue. One or two years before dredging, cold water points thaw the gravel to bedrock, and finally the dredge begins working the area.

The large dredges usually ran for about 250 days each year. The digging usually started in late April or early May and continued 24 hours a day until heavy ice in the dredge pond blocked operations.

A crew of about 10 men worked on Dredge #4. A "bullgang" on shore prepared for the dredge’s advance while on board men serviced equipment, guided the digging ladder, and kept the dredge clean. If there was a breakdown, it was an emergency because with a short season to mine it was critically important to make sure the dredge got as much gold as possible. The crews spent their time making sure nothing jammed and replacing worn equipment with a minimum of lost time.

Two bow and two stern lines connected to “deadmen” on shore provided the anchoring system for controlling the movement of the dredge by an onboard winching system. The winching system allowed the dredge to move side to side from its anchoring point at the rear of the dredge, referred to as the "spud", and then ultimately advance to a new dredging position. Deadmen were large logs buried into the ground by the bullgang. The bullgang for Dredge #4 consisted of five men because the anchoring lines were so heavy. The bullgang also built dams to control the water levels in the dredge pond, and made sure that the power cable to the dredge was long enough.

Figure 5: Winching system for constant re positioning of gold dredge during operations.

On board the dredge there was a hierarchy of positions, and the 10 man crew worked their way up through these positions with time. The lowest position was the bow decker, who was responsible for the front half of the dredge, the bowdecker scraped off the bucket lips, watched for damaged buckets and broken pins on the line, and kept the bow deck clean. He also pulled large roots and logs out of the buckets and cracked big rocks with a sledge to prevent jams in the dump box.

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The stern decker watched the course tailings conveyor or “tailings stacker” making sure it stayed clear of the tailing piles and didn’t bury the power cable. Especially important was making sure that nothing jammed the flow of gravel and rocks up the stacker. Most of the time the stern decker wasn’t that busy and had time to learn skills like cable splicing that were necessary for promotion to the position of oiler.

The oiler had a very busy job because he looked after all the equipment on board, serviced the pumps, motors, tumblers and main drive. A strict routine of maintenance minimized the risk of breakdown as wearing parts were spotted before they failed. He also relieved the winchman for breaks and got to practice winching.

The dredge master was responsible for the upkeep and output of the dredge. He planned the mining strategy for the creek, kept the dredge sheets noting crew hours and breakdowns, and ran the dredge during the day shift from the control room. Winchmen took over for the evening and night shifts, controlling all aspects of the dredge operation. During his shift the winchman ran the digging ladder, controlled the back and forth sweep of the dredge, and supervised the crew.

Figure 6: Control room or “winch room” on dredge #4; space heater is seen in the foreground Twice a week, and more often in especially rich ground, two men came out from the main camp and collected the gold from the dredge sluices. The dredge would shut down briefly while this clean-up crew rolled up the coconut mats at the very top of the sluices and took up any riffles showing gold below the mats. They gathered the mats and the dirt shoveled from the riffles into a large wooden clean-up box. New mats and the cleaned riffles went down and the dredge started up again. More thorough clean-ups of the whole dredge took place periodically.

The clean-up crew washed out the mats, and using the small sluice box next to the wash box, they began concentrating the of roughly 70 kg (150 pounds) of sand and gold. By the time they finished there was about a half pail full of black sand (magnetite) and gold. This pail and the mat used in the sluice box were labeled with the dredge number and packed into the back of their truck. At the end of the day everything was hauled back to the gold room at the main camp for cleaning.

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At the gold room the worker dumped the material into a gold pan and gradually worked it down.

A magnet removed the black sand and panning removed surplus sand. Eventually the gold pans were dried in the oven and set on the floor by the back door until they cooled off. Then the gold was screened into pieces of about the same size to ease the final cleaning. Buckshot and iron pyrite (fool’s gold) were picked out and the fine sand was gradually blown out. Finally, the superintendent weighed the gold, credited the gold to the dredge, and put the gold in a five pound baking powder tin.

Several times a month the gold was melted into gold bars utilizing a furnace. The gold bricks, usually a dozen at each melt, weighed 300 to 450 ounces each.

5.

Rebuilding Dredge #4

The high cost of maintaining an aging Dredge #4 limited the corporate profits, and in a ten year period through the 1930's the vessel made only $16,000 profit. In June 1939 the hull sprang a leak and in three minutes the dredge sank to the bottom of its pond. Although soon refloated the company knew the gold reserves in the area of Hunker Creek, 14 kilometres up the Klondike River from Dawson City, were almost exhausted, and therefore the dredge had to be moved.

Engineers began planning a reconstruction of the dredge on Bonanza Creek for 1940.

Figure 7: Dredge #4 operating in the 1950's Over the 30 year life of old Dredge #4, there had been no significant improvements in dredge technology, and new dredges worked generally the same way as old dredges. The only problems with #4 were its disintegrating wooden hull and the lack of ground left to dredge in its current location in the Klondike Rive valley, and therefore the rebuilding plan included relocation and reuse of most of the equipment on the new dredge.

In late August 1940, old Dredge #4 was shut down, and a crew began dismantling the dredge, salvaging much of the superstructure, and using the dredge winches to lift off the pumps, motors, trommel and other heavy gear. At the end of September a bulldozer dragged off the last pieces of machinery to the main camp. The old wooden hull was abandoned in its tailings where it finished working.

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Through the spring of 1940, the site for the new dredge was also being prepared. The road up Bonanza Creek, was improved and allowed the heavy pieces of machinery and huge new timbers to be hauled in. Bulldozers prepared a construction yard and dredge pit about three kilometers up Bonanza Creek from the Klondike River. A crew moved in a camp mess house and set up tents for the 70 workers, and built a temporary office and workshop. Power and telephone lines reached the camp and by mid-June construction material arrived at the site.

The construction yard was a well-ordered space with all the timbers for the construction of the new hull laid out beside the road in the order of construction. Carpenters chamfered the edges of the big beams by hand, and a crew of painters primed each timber. The larger timber frames making up the hull were preassembled in the yard. Fitting work was complex and everything was measured and re-measured. In August 1940, a large 20 ton derrick began lifting the completed frames onto the prepared hull foundation and the scow began to take shape. At the end of October the crew pumped the pit full of water, the new hull floated, and work stopped for the winter.

In the spring of 1941 work resumed on the superstructure with all of the reconditioned machinery arriving at the dredge from the main camp. In spite of the shortages of skilled labour as a result th of World War Two, by September 18 work was largely completed and it started digging. The design changes to Dredge #4 were the lengthening of the digging ladder and the tailings stacker, which were improvements which allowed the dredge to dig deeper down to the bedrock on Bonanza Creek.

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The Legacy of Dredge 4

Dredge #4 operated until 1959 with the termination of operations a result of gold production that could not keep up with the operating costs. The dredge sat in the final pond for more than 30 years before work began in 1991 to recondition it for a tourist attraction. During the summers of 1991 and 1992 the dredge was excavated, refloated and relocated by the Canadian military to its current position on higher ground to protect it from seasonal flooding.

This significant historic resource and local tourism attraction is at the mid-point of a multi-year restoration project. The goal of the project is to repair and stabilize the front end of the dredge around the digging ladder by replacing rotting components with new wood. This project is part of a long-term project designed to stabilize the whole structure, an important cultural resource and designated national historic site. Repairs to Dredge #4 will help to ensure that this important symbol of Canada's history of gold mining, and extraction is protected in the future. A total of 19 dredges have operated in the Klondike region over the period of 1900 to 1966, and Dredge #4 is the only remaining intact dredge.

References Johnson, Kenneth. Personal Photographs of Dredge #4. 2008.

Neufeld D., Habiluk, P. Make it Pay! Gold Dredge 4 Parks Canada Website. www.pc.gc.ca/lhn-nhs/yt/klondike/natcul/natcul-dn4.aspx

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Canol: The Forgotten Pipeline Ken Johnson, P.Eng. UMA Engineering Ltd. Edmonton, AB T5S 1G3 Background to author: Ken Johnson, P.Eng. is an Environmental Engineer, and Cold Regions Engineering Specialist with UMA Engineering Ltd. in Edmonton. Ken has been working North of 60 for the past 10 years, and for 5 of these years he was resident of the Yukon and NWT. Ken is an avid northern technical historian, and has published historical papers and articles on the White Pass and Yukon Railway, and the Alaska Highway, in addition to the Canol Pipeline. He was also a key proponent in the International Historic Civil Engineering Landmark designations awarded to the White Pass and Yukon Railway (1994) and the Alaska Highway (1996) by the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering and the American Society of Civil Engineers.

Introduction The Canadian Oil (Canol) pipeline project was completed during World War II in support of the North American defences against the Japanese. The pipeline was designed to transport crude oil produced at Norman Wells on the Mackenzie River the 925 km to Whitehorse in the Yukon Territory, where it was to be refined and piped to points along the Alaska Highway. Between the time construction began in October 1942 until the Whitehorse refinery commenced operations in April, 1944, a total of 2,600 km of pipelines, 830 km of gravel roads, 830 km of telephone lines, 2,400 km of winter roads, and 10 aircraft landing strips were constructed at an estimated total project cost of 135 million in 1942/43 dollars.

Background and Initiation of Events After a route was selected for the Alaska Highway, as a link between landing strips for aircraft ferrying, military planners began to look for an energy source to complement the highway and landing strips. Crude oil sources in Edmonton, and southern Alaska were discussed, however attention focused on the crude oil at Norman Wells, 90 miles south of the Arctic Circle on the Mackenzie River. In 1933 the Normans Well's oilfield had been put into commercial operation

by Imperial Oil Ltd. Construction of a 100 mm crude oil pipeline from Norman Wells, Northwest Territories to Whitehorse, Yukon, and a refinery at Whitehorse was recommended to the US Army Corp of Engineers by an advisory group. This concept was considered feasible because the crude oil from Norman Wells was a wax base and would flow at extremely low temperatures.

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Imperial Oil signed a contract in May, 1942 to drill and operate at least nine new wells. A contract was also signed with the W.A. Bechtel Company, the H.C. Price Company, and the W.E. Callahan Construction Company (B-P-C) for the construction of the pipeline system.

Canol became not only the one crude oil pipeline between Norman Wells and Whitehorse, but also three distribution lines, roads, and a string of airports. The distribution routes of the Canol project would follow the Alaska Highway, and the White Pass and Yukon Railway right of way, therefore difficult construction was not anticipated. However, the crude oil supply line from Norman Wells to Whitehorse presented a completely unknown alignment.

Only a few trappers, natives and gold-seekers had ever traversed the Yukon-Mackenzie River divide, which separates Norman Wells, Northwest Territories and Whitehorse, Yukon.

Reconnaissance surveys by tractor train set out from Norman Wells in December 1942 and in March 1943. These ground reconnaissance surveys established the general route of the pipeline.

Construction The Canol project was faced with the task of implementing its own mobilization system into the Northwest Territories to build the crude oil pipeline from Norman Wells to Whitehorse. The first phase of equipment mobilization was by barge to Norman Wells from the end of rail 460 km north of Edmonton. In May 1942, men and equipment began to arrive at the end of rail in Waterways, Alberta (Fort McMurray). Materials were soon ready to move north along the 1,800 km water route down the Athabasca and Slave Rivers, across Great Slave Lake and down the MacKenzie River. A second phase of mobilization began by winter road from Peace River, Alberta upon freezeup.

As the project proceeded, mobilization began on the White Pass and Yukon Railway for the refinery construction, and for pipeline construction, and the Alaska Highway for pipeline construction to Watson Lake.

The Alaska Highway was completed in the fall of 1942, therefore the road construction for pipeline placement focused on the section between Norman Wells and Whitehorse. As the crude oil pipeline would simply be laid on top of the ground, the route was determined by the grades needed for the servicing road.

The main concerns during construction were engineering problems and efforts to minimize the time required to complete the project. Initially, the construction practices used were identical to those used in the south, however, ice-rich permafrost was present in many areas along the route, along with muskeg, and this created difficult construction situations.

The completed pipelines of the Canol project consisted of 4 different interconnected systems.

These system were the 925 km crude oil supply line from Norman Wells to Whitehorse, the 960 km distribution line from Whitehorse to Fairbanks, the 175 km secondary supply line and distribution from Skagway, through Carcross and onto Whitehorse, and the 425 km distribution line from Carcross to Watson Lake.

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Each of the sections of line required a number of pumping stations, including 10 stations between Norman Wells and Whitehorse, 15 stations between Whitehorse and Fairbanks, and 4 pumping stations between Carcross and Watson Lake. Each station had a pumphouse, storage tank, light plant, mess hall and dormitory and several additional facilities.

Pipeline construction followed immediately behind the road construction. The pipeline was constructed using 6 to 7 metre lengths of pipe, each weighing approximately 100 kilograms (100 mm diameter). The pipe sections were supported by wood blocks and welded in place.

Operation Oil was pumped through the crude oil pipeline for a total of 16 months from December 19, 1943 to April 1, 1945. Between July and November of 1944, the project provided all of the motor vehicle requirements for military needs between Watson Lake and Fairbanks and also exported between 20 million and 40 million litres to Skagway.

During this period Whitehorse refinery processed 156 million litres of crude oil from Norman Wells. The refinery produced 3.2 million litres of aviation fuel, 51 million litres of vehicle gasoline and 44 million litres of diesel fuel. The cost of the aviation fuel was 27 cents per litre (1944 dollars), and the diesel fuel and vehicle gasoline cost 7 cents per litre (1944 dollars).

The Legacy Upon terminating the project, the U.S. military planned to sell the entire Canol project to the highest bidder, assuming that the new owner would reactivate it. However, this was not to be the case and instead the vehicles, construction machinery, pump station installations and pipe became the focus of salvage operations by Imperial Oil. The total project, whose official cost was $135 million (1944) dollars) may have cost as much as $300 million, in addition to utilizing more than 200,000 metric tons of equipment.

The Yukon section of the project remains driveable but the Northwest Territories section is only a hiking trail. This first northern "mega" project remains somewhat a mystery, with only a few relics left to identify it ever existed.

Reference: K.R. Johnson. Canol: A Cold Region Engineering Project without a Future. Proceedings of Canadian Society for Civil Engineering Annual Conference, Ottawa, 1995.

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ALASKA HIGHWAY

Ken Johnson Originally published in the proceedings of the 1996 CSCE Annual Conference

The Russian Territory of Alaska The northwest region of North America was settled by Asians approximately 18 thousand years ago, however, it remained outside of recorded history until the 18th century. During the 1700's the Russian people, travelling from Russia's far east across the Bering Sea, discovered a valuable resource in a fur bearing animal known as the sea otter. This fur trade activity brought Russian sovereignty to Alaska, and almost brought about the extinction of the sea otter.

The isolation of the territory of Alaska from the centre of Russian political activity allowed a family known as the Baronoffs to amass a significant fortune through the fur trade. However, this frustrated the Tsar of Russia in his efforts to collect any tax. This frustration steadily grew until the Tsar was presented a profitable alternative to sell the Alaska Territory to the United States of America for seven million dollars in 1867.

The American Territory of Alaska Once acquiring the Alaska Territory the American government considered the concept of building a road to this isolated area, however the President of the time, Ulysses S. Grant, did not support the idea. Some thought was also given to the concept of a Canada-Alaska railway linking with a Russian railway by bridging or tunnelling the Bering Strait.

The first significant effort to create an overland route came in 1897 when Major Moody of the Northwest Mounted Police was given the assignment of completing a route survey for an overland route from Dawson Creek to Fort Selkirk on the Yukon River. After 13 months, and 2600 kilometres (1600 miles), Moody eventually made it to Fort Selkirk, and presented a conclusion to his superiors that an overland route into the Yukon Territory from Northern British Columbia was not feasible.

The Klondike Gold Rush of 1898 changed the entire perspective on the northwest of North America, and presented Canada the dilemma of maintaining sovereignty over the Yukon. The construction of the White Pass and Yukon Railway presented an avenue which favoured Americans because of its origin in what the Americans claimed to be Alaskan territory. To counter this effort the North West Mounted Police started to blaze an overland trail to the Klondike gold fields in 1905.

However, only 600 kilometres (375 miles) of a horse trail was completed from Ft. St. John before the project was abandoned.

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The territory of Alaska did not begin to lobby hard for a road to the south until the First World War, at which time the Alaska representative Donald McDonald lobbied to build a road to link Alaska with Central America. The lobbying efforts were also complimented by commissions and publicity stunts in support of a road. However all of these efforts did not produce any significant results.

In 1939 a new phase of the argument of an overland route to Alaska was entered by the identification of a security issue related to overland access to Alaska.

THE CONCEPT OF A ROAD A Military Necessity Various military units were stationed on the southeast coast of Alaska after the purchase of Alaska from Russia in 1867. However, the growing knowledge of the territorial and political objectives of Nazi Germany become the catalyst for pursuing road construction.

In 1933 Winston Churchill, then Minister of Defence in Great Britain, issued a warning about Germany, but this warning was largely ignored. In 1937 a Canadian businessman by the name of Stevenson provided files to Churchill clearly identifying Nazi Germany's plans for conquest; these files were again ignored by the British leaders. This information not only identified Nazi Germany's plans for world conquest, but also Nazi Germany's secret weapons under development, including the atom bomb.

War broke out in Europe in 1939, and the United States did not provide any direct aid to Britain, however, British covert operations were in full operation within America. These covert operations were able to ascertain that the Battle of Britain in 1940 was a bluff to confuse Russia into believing it was at no risk of invasion.

Nazi Germany had a peace treaty with Russia, but the Nazi leaders felt that a potential threat remained in spite of this treaty. Nazi Germany developed battle plans to invade and conquer Russia for its resources, and then shift its focus on the conquest of the British Isles. With this knowledge Britain and the United States knew that support to Russia was an absolute military necessity in order to eventually defeat Nazi Germany.

The Defense of Russia On June 22, 1941, Nazi Germany initiated operation Barbarosa, and began the invasion of Russia. On June 23, 1941 the Allied forces initiated the action to support the defences of Russia. At this time the United States was officially still a neutral country in the Second World War, therefore the United States efforts were very secretive.

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The supply of materials and equipment to defend Russia was organized through a number of routes. Seas routes east to ports in northern Europe and southeast Asia were available as well as a sea route west to the port of Vladivostoff on Russia's east coast. The sea routes east were long and very vulnerable to attack from the Nazi Germany forces in the Atlantic. The sea route west to Vladivostoff was much shorter, and less vulnerable to attack because of the Japanese preoccupation with the South Pacific, and Vladivostoff was linked to the Russian west through the Trans-Siberian Railway.

The defense of Russia was to include the supply of raw materials such as 5,000 metric tons of Canadian aluminum to provide the material for equipment manufacture. However, what Russia needed even more was equipment such as aircraft delivered ready for use. The shortest and fastest route for delivery of these planes was a "great circle" polar route from the United States, through Canada, Alaska, and Siberia.

In early 1941, airfields were constructed in Grande Prairie, Alberta, Ft. Nelson, British Columbia; and Watson Lake and Whitehorse, Yukon Territory. The purpose of these airfields was apparently to facilitate the movement of aircraft and supplies to western Canada and Alaska. The existing airfield in Fairbanks, Alaska was expanded as the northern terminus of the air route.

Upon the invasion of Russia by Nazi Germany, the work began to upgrade this local supply route into the Northwest Staging Route. The Northwest Staging Route had two major functions during the second world war. Firstly, it was a significant factor in the route location for the Alaska Highway, and it was very useful in the highway construction. Secondly, the airfields were used to ferry planes to Fairbanks to be picked up by Russian crews for lend-lease to Russia. In Russia, construction of airfields across Siberia began to match those in Canada and Alaska.

Six months before the invasion of Pearl Harbour by the Japanese Imperial Navy, Americans were in northern British Columbia readying for the eventual activity associated with the Alaska Highway. However, at the time the American people were still not in favour of entering the war.

The invasion of Pearl Harbour, which was known to military officials 5 days before it occurred, was to be the catalyst for official American involvement in the Second World War. Very shortly after Pearl Harbour support of a road to Alaska was accepted by the American people as a necessity for the defense of Alaska against the Imperial Japanese invading forces. The decision for the Americans to finance and build a road was made, with transfer to Canadian ownership after the war.

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A Highway Route Several routes had been proposed for the road before construction was ever initiated. The American bureaucracy preferred a route which started in Prince George, British Columbia, and struck northwest to Altin, British Columbia, and then on to Whitehorse, Yukon, and finally Fairbanks, Alaska. This route would eventually connect Alaska and Seattle, however it was close enough to the west cost to be vulnerable to enemy attack, and there were no existing air bases along the way. This route also would also have steep road grades and be subject to heavy snowfall during the winter months.

The Canadian bureaucracy preferred a route which also started in Prince George but which followed the Rocky Mountain Trench north to the Pelly River, Yukon.

From Pelly River the road would traverse to Dawson City, Yukon and down the Yukon Valley to connect the Richardson Highway of Alaska to Fairbanks, Alaska.

The advantage of this route was that it was farther inland, and away from the threat of enemy aircraft attack, however there also were no connecting air bases.

A "Prairie Route" was advocated by the United States Army Corps of Engineers.

This route was far enough inland to avoid attack by enemy planes and it connected the air bases of the Northwest Staging Route from Edmonton to Fairbanks. It traversed through more level terrain, not ascending a pass over 1,300 metres (4,250 feet). There was also a railhead at Dawson Creek, British Columbia and a winter trail from there to Fort Nelson, 480 kilometres (300 miles) to the northwest.

The practicality of the "Prairie Route" won out over the two other possibilities, and a decision was made on February 2, 1942 to follow this Route.

BUILDING OF THE ROAD Construction The simple objective of the Alaska Highway was to construct a pioneer road for military traffic as quickly as possible from Dawson Creek, British Columbia to Fairbanks, Alaska.

On March 2, 1942 the first train carrying troops arrived in Dawson Creek to begin construction. There were no reliable maps of the proposed route and only a winter trail from Dawson Creek to Ft. Nelson and a wagon road from Whitehorse northwest to Kluane Lake.

Three major groups of US military personnel were mobilized in Canada and Alaska for the project. One group proceeded to Dawson Creek by rail to begin work northward toward Alaska, The second group went to Whitehorse by rail on the White Pass and Yukon Railway to begin work northward, and southward. The

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third group mobilized through the existing Richardson Highway from Valdez on the Alaska coast to construct southward towards the Yukon from Alaska.

The help of local trappers, prospectors, and First Nation members was enlisted to help locate the road. Local packers with their mule teams were used to help supply the advance survey parties.

Five hundred and forty kilometres (335 miles) of untravelled wilderness separated Ft. Nelson and Watson Lake, the first settlement in the Yukon Territory. The highest point of the road crossed Summit Lake in this section of the road at 1200 metres (4,000 feet).

Northward from Whitehorse, the road alignment went around the south shore of Kluane Lake, and crossed the large glacial rivers of the western Yukon. At the Alaska border, the route traversed through Tanana River Valley reaching Delta Junction and the Richardson Highway of Alaska.

In April 1942 route location personnel were at work along the entire road alignment, with heavy equipment following close behind. Five to six kilometres of road could be built in a day because construction could proceed 24 hours a day with the long summer daylight hours.

The most difficult problem for the construction was the inexperience of the military engineers in building a highway on permafrost. In many areas along the route where the top layer of ground was removed, the underlying ground thawed and produced a "quagmire" which was difficult to build on. The best strategy in these areas was to leave the permafrost intact and build the road on top of it by laying a layer of insulating gravel.

The route between Whitehorse to the Alaska border was particularly difficult to complete. There were large areas of muskeg, several large glacial rivers to bridge and many sections of roadway which required blasting to remove bedrock. Ice jams in the rivers during the 1942 spring breakup also added to the difficulty.

The temperatures during the winter months dropped to minus 45 degrees centigrade, with a record minimum of minus 63 degrees centigrade occurring at the runway in Snag, Yukon in 1942. At these temperatures, machinery would not function well and breakdowns were frequent.

On September 24, 1942, bulldozer operators met at Contact Creek (Mile Post 588.1, Km 946.3) to close the southern section of the road. On October 20, 1942 the bulldozers met near Beaver Creek, Yukon (Mile Post 1,202, Km 1,934) to close the section of the road from Alaska to Whitehorse. The pioneer road had been completed in eight months and twelve days. An opening ceremony was held at Soldiers Summit on Kluane Lake on November 20, 1942 to officially celebrate the completion of an overland link to northern Canada and Alaska.

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Structures The most significant problem for the construction next to the permafrost difficulties was bridging the many small streams and major rivers along the route. Over the entire length of the highway a total of 133 bridges and 8,000 culverts were constructed. Some of the rivers could be crossed with small log structures, but others were meandering glacier-fed rivers, hundreds of metres wide. These large river crossings required major bridge structures for an all-season road.

Temporary log or pontoon bridges were used extensively at the beginning of the construction over the smaller streams, and ferries were used on the larger rivers to accommodate the rapid pace of construction.

The longest structure along the highway was the Nisutlin Bay bridge at Teslin Lake, Yukon with a length of 700 metres (2300 feet). The initial pilings for this bridge were set within a thin layer of sand in the lake bottom, below which was mostly permafrost.

The Peace River bridge near Ft. St. John was the most difficult bridge to build. A ferry was initially used to carry the supplies across the river but it was inadequate to move the necessary quantity of material. A timber trestle bridge was built in October 1942, but the river destroyed this in November. A suspension bridge was started in December 1942 and completed in August 1943, reaching a length of 650 metres (2,130 feet).

Construction Supply Another significant problem of building the road was maintaining the flow of supplies to the construction activity. The problem was compounded by adverse weather conditions, remoteness of the area and the lack of enough ships to mobilize supplies to the coastal supply points.

There were many supply routes used during the course of construction. To supply the construction proceeding north and south from Whitehorse, material was shipped to the Port of Skagway, and on to Whitehorse via the White Pass and Yukon Railway. Skagway was in term supplied form the Port of Prince Rupert in British Columbia. In 1943 alone the railway hauled over 250,000 metric tons of material form Skagway into Whitehorse. Dawson Creek, at the end of the railway in northern British Columbia, was the major supply point for the southern section of the road. The supply of materials progressed up the road with the construction.

The interior highways of Alaska and the Alaska Railroad connecting Anchorage and Fairbanks kept the supply of materials moving to the construction at the north end of the road. Several of the Yukon lakes and rivers were also used to supply construction areas along the construction route by riverboat.

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Construction Workers Living conditions were particularly uncomfortable during the early part of the road construction. Workers had to live in tents with inadequate heat in the winter and little insect protection in the summer. The food supply for such a large contingent of troops was also a major supply problem. As the highway construction progressed, more suitable accommodation was built and better food was obtained.

Insects were a problem along the highway due to the large expanses of water available for insect breeding grounds. The use of head nets were very common, especially during the summer months, and many workers were unable to work because of swelling from insect bites.

The cold weather was possibly the hardest adjustment for the personnel to become accustomed to. Most of the workers had never experienced such extreme temperature ranges.

In total approximately 10,000 men and women were mobilized for the construction of the Alaska Highway.

THE ALASKA HIGHWAY LEGACY A Northern Gateway In 1940 there were approximately 72,000 people in Alaska and it was envisioned that Alaska was a gateway to Canada and the west coast of the United States.

This vision and much more was proven to be a fact with the implementation and operation of the Northwest Staging Route, which began ferrying aircraft in August 1942. A total of 8,000 aircraft were ferried from Great Falls, Montana to Moscow, Russia, with only 140 aircraft lost on route.

This effort provided a significant component to defeating the forces of Nazi Germany in Russia, and ultimately in Europe.

Reconstruction of the Alaska Highway The pioneer road constructed in 1942 was a single lane, rough road that would have to be upgraded in order to be usable by the increasing military and civilian traffic. In early 1943 the job of upgrading the road to an all-weather structure became a civilian exercise. The upgrading included reducing road grades, straightening road alignments, and constructing permanent bridges.

Five major contractors were hired to oversee the construction, with specialty contractors hired for the large bridge projects. By October 1943, with the highway

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upgraded as an all-weather road, the United States government ordered the project completed. The military then took over and did what maintenance it could to keep the road open.

The road, when completed, traversed over 2500 kilometres (1500 miles) from Dawson Creek to its junction with the Richardson Highway at Delta Junction, Alaska. The total cost of the road was over $138 million 1941 dollars and required the placement of 133 bridges and 8,000 culverts.

Upon turnover of the road to the Canadian government in 1946. Canadians paid the United States $70,000,000. Reconstruction of the road continues today using many of the lessons learned during the initial construction.

The Alaska Highway is a connection to the Russian far east, born of war. It now remains a major trade route for the northwest, and a potential international trade route for Canadians and Americans for the future.

References Cohen, Stan. "The Trail of '42 - A Pictorial History of the Alaska Highway." 1979.

Grosvenor Productions Inc. and CanWest Pacific Television Inc. Road." 1993.

"The Great

Minter, Roy. Radio play entitled "The Highway." April, 1956.

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SUBMITTED BYBY Kenneth RPP, MCIP SUBMITTED CitiesJohnson, and Environment Unit, Dalhousie University

Crystall II Airbase to City of Iqaluit: 70 Years of Transformation and Adaptation The “lego land” multi-family residential development reflects a literal naming often used by the community.

SOURCE: Kenneth Johnson

The City of Iqaluit is among a unique group of Canadian communities that originated entirely from a military presence, and not from a commercial venture or trading post, or from a government administrative centre. From its origin as an airbase to serve the ferrying of aircraft from North America to Europe, Crystall II, then Frobisher Bay (1964), and finally Iqaluit (1987), has experienced 70 years of transformation and adaptation.

The modern history of the region originated almost 450 years ago with the exploration of Martin Frobisher, and his apparent discovery of gold in 1576. The site of this early arctic mining misadventure is only 190 kilometers to the south east. No significant exploration of the region advanced until C.F. Hall explored the region in the 1860's, as part of the search for Sir John Franklin’s lost expedition; he created the first rudimentary map of the area.

Another 80 years passed before the interest in the region once again emerged with the Second World War and the Battle of the Atlantic, through which the Allied Forces suffered terrible losses from Nazi Germany's submarine fleet. A new mobilization plan for supplies, and aircraft in particular, was developed and became known as the Crimson Route. This route made use of the

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point of land at the south end of Baffin Island, which was on the great circle route to Europe, and accommodated the leap frogging of fighter aircraft.

During late July 1941, a United States Army Air Forces team investigated the Frobisher Bay region for a potential airfield. Ultimately, a level meadow beside the community was selected as an airfield site. The base amenities consisted of the base accommodation, a hospital, and a sealift area, in addition to two runways. The construction was difficult, particularly since the military personnel had no experience constructing in permafrost soils.

This venture was a “secret” project back in 1943.

The Battle of the Atlantic turnaround in 1943 meant that the Crimson Route through the base became obsolete because the location was not particularly strategic. The airfield activity was reduced to weather, communications, and logistics

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duties and the base was inactivated in 1950, functioning as a weather station only.

In nearby Ward Inlet, 10 kilometers south of the community, the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) had an outpost. In a strictly commercial venture, the HBC outpost moved in 1949 from Ward Inlet to the neighbouring river valley of Niaqunngut, officially called Apex, to take advantage of the commercial prospects at the airfield. The HBC could not relocate to the base itself because of its military status, so they settled on being five kilometers away.

The advantages of having high latitude airfields were realized soon after the end of WWII and the start of the Cold War with the possibility of an over the top attack from the Soviet Union. The US military reactivated the base in 1951 and Crystall II became known as Frobisher Bay Air Base. A bilateral agreement signed between the Canadian and US governments lead to the construction of the Distant Early Warning (DEW) Line. The airbase became a staging point for the construction of the DEW Line with materials sealifted to the airbase and then transported by air to DEW Line sites in the region. A DEW Line site at the base itself opened in 1957, and subsequently closed in 1961, ending the surveillance activity. In 1957, the community had a population of 1,200 with 489 being Inuit.

A new direction for the community came with John Diefenbaker’s 1958 election campaign, where he announced his “Northern Vision.” This was a strategy to extend Canadian nationhood to the Arctic and develop its natural resources for the benefit of all Canadians. The Department of Northern Affairs and National Development implemented the “National Development Policy” and announced the “Road to Resources program.”

In March 1958, a speech by the Chief of the Industrial Arctic Division of the Department of Northern Affairs and National Development was made regarding the redevelopment of Frobisher Bay (Iqaluit). “It will be the most revolutionary community in the country, perhaps on the continent. Today, architects and engineers are talking in terms of a new community shaped roughly like a snow flake. In the centre of the snowflake would be the stores, the newspaper and radio, the hotel and restaurants, the banks, the movie and cocktail lounge, and other small enterprises that go to make up a modern community of more than 4,000 people. In the outer

“It will be the most revolutionary community in the country, perhaps on the continent.” areas might be the accommodation unit reaching into the sky.”

This futuristic plan for a domed city surrounded by residential towers had a price tag at the time of $120 million, which would be at least one billion dollars today. In fact, residential towers around a central covered dome, was a totally impractical design for an arctic community, particularly given the extreme construction challenges of building on permafrost.

Following the shelving of the futuristic concept, a more modest “new town two” plan was developed; this concept was still based upon a sheltered environment from the harsh arctic temperatures. The grand vision came and went when Diefenbaker lost power in 1962. Further community planning was completed by Mossad Safdi in the years that followed, and these concepts were more realistic in the reflection of the climate and terrain of the community.

In 1963, the remaining military forces left, creating a Canadian government center for the eastern arctic. This was the action which ultimately transformed a military base into a community, with a legacy of the “bedroom community” of Apex, which was accessed by a road in 1955. During this period the overlying governance for the community changed from Ottawa to Yellowknife, when Yellowknife became the territorial capital in 1967.

This changed the previous north-south working relationship to an east-west working relationship.

Frobisher Bay reported to Yellowknife, which

A concept for a domed city was formulated in 1960, with an estimate cost of $120 million at the time.

SOURCE: Popular Mechanics Magazine, May, 1959

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Planning Journal, Winter 2016

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Crystall Secondary II Airbase suites continued to City of Iqaluit from page continued 9 from page 19

The piped water and sewer system utilizes insulated plastic pipe and steel manholes.

SOURCE: Kenneth Johnson

SOURCE: Kenneth Johnson

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a phenomenal boom in the community, with a growth estimate to 5,000 people, ultimately becoming 6,600 people. The housing in the New Expansion Area took on a modern look reflecting the maturation from a regional center to a territorial capital. Considerable multifamily residential housing was also developed, and once again Iqaluit remained quite literal with one multifamily development nicknamed “lego land”.

The economy of Iqaluit remains entirely government based, and the capital infrastructure plans for the community total almost $500 million, which includes a $300 million airport expansion that is currently underway. Iqaluit is uniquely a “big city” with features of the community, such as 200 cars per kilometer of road, which is a value competing with Singapore.

As much as Iqaluit is a big city in the context of the Nunavut Territory, the community remains an arctic community at heart on the edge of a frontier.

How many capital cities can boast about the occasional polar bear walking through town? n

Kenneth Johnson is a senior planner, engineer, and occasional historian, with Stantec in Edmonton. He has almost 30 years of experience in planning and engineering in the far north, and he has lived and worked in all three northern territories. His first excursion to Iqaluit was in 1988, and he has witnessed first-hand the “capitalization” of the community over the past two decades.

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About the Author

The New Expansion Area was planned in the mid 1980s and has created the first large unique neighborhood.

created an ongoing tension until the Nunavut Territory was created in 1999.

Within the community itself, a central area called Astro Hill became the community focus in the late sixties, and a satellite residential area was connected with a sheltered corridor to the “White Row” housing. The limited residential neighborhoods included the “Lower Base” and Iqaluit with “k” instead of a “q”. The community’s infrastructure included a water supply originating from a lake above the community, and a sewage collection system that discharged into the inlet.

Only the Astro Hill neighbourhood had piped services, with the remainder of the community on trucked services.

In the mid-1980s, planning occurred for a new expansion area. It included a major residential development designed by H.K. Kang, which would be substantially served with a piped system that employed a buried system of insulated plastic pipe and steel manholes. The ultimate naming of the new development was quite literal, and the neighbourhood name of New Expansion Area has stuck. The New Expansion Area began to build out in the 1990s to create the first large unique neighbourhood.

In the approach to the creation of the Nunavut Territory in 1999, the Town of Iqaluit had to fight for the right to be the territorial capital, competing against the regional centres of Rankin Inlet and Cambridge. Iqaluit won out, which created

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Inuvik NWT Utilidor Replacement

Inuvik NWT Utilidor Replacement One of the most significant Canadian community milestones in the decades following World War Two was the development of the community of Inuvik, along with its above ground piped water and sewer system. The development was initiated by the chronic flooding and limited capacity of the nearby community of Aklavik, which was the regional centre for the Mackenzie Delta. In 1957, John Diefenbaker’s famous “northern vision” policy inspired the nation, and advanced further initiatives in northern infrastructure, such as Inuvik.

Diefenbaker’s northern vision was one where “traditional activities like hunting and fishing co-exist alongside cutting-edge scientific research.”

Diefenbaker, in fact, made the North one of the central themes of the 1958 general election, and he would triumph with the largest majority of seats in Canadian history.

The Town of Inuvik is Canada’s largest community north of the Arctic Circle, (68° 22’ N latitude, and 133° 44’ W longitude), 2000 kilometres northwest of Edmonton, and has a unique history as the first completely “engineered” northern community.

The weather is typically northern with July mean temperatures ranging from 8.2°C to 19.7°C; January mean temperatures ranging from -26.1°C to -35.7°C, and; an average yearly temperature of -9.6°C. The Town celebrated its official fiftieth anniversary in 2008, and according to some, there has never been a Canadian town so “pondered, proposed, projected, planned, prepared and plotted” as East-3, which was its original site identification back in the 1950’s. Diefenbaker dedicated Inuvik as, “the first community north of the Arctic Circle built to provide the facilities of a southern Canadian town. It was designed not only as a base for development and administration, but as a centre to bring education, medical care and new opportunity to the people of the western Arctic.”

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Inuvik NWT Utilidor Replacement Selection and Building of East-3 In 1953, federal government survey teams fanned out across the Mackenzie Delta looking for a new spot on which to build the settlement that would replace Aklavik. In 1954 twelve sites were targeted as worthy of detailed study for the community of “New Aklavik”; six on the west side of the Mackenzie Delta and six on the east side of the Delta. By the time the field investigation season started in the summer, four sites with the most potential were selected for detailed field investigations. The study team completed their work in late August, and in consultation with local residents, recommended the East-3 site because it had the highest overall rating. The 110 hectare community development area was well above flood levels, within the treeline, on a navigable waterway, had access to wood and large gravel sources, and had space for a large airport runway. The townsite sits on a broad terrace between the East Channel of the Mackenzie River and the upland that forms the Mackenzie Delta’s eastern boundary.

The long, very cold winters, permafrost, and great distance from sources of supply were a challenge to engineers starting to design buildings, water, sewer, roads and drainage and even landscaping for East-3. Each of the elements of the community required unique design and construction considerations, and the work was breaking “new ground” in the field of cold region engineering.

East-3 was developed with a compact and efficient downtown business core just east of the East Channel. Primary and secondary schools were located on large blocks of land between the downtown core and surrounding residential areas, and a large regional hospital was sited at the south end of the townsite. The residential areas radiated outward from the central core area.

Construction of East-3 began in 1955, and the official dedication of Inuvik occurred in July, 1961 with Prime Minister Diefenbaker presiding over the ceremony. It was the first time in Canada that a community would be built from scratch, giving new meaning to the term “government town.”

The construction of Inuvik even started out with an environmental element with instructions for all construction crews to minimize vegetation disruption when building the infrastructure. Of particular note was the preservation of spruce trees along the main road. These trees were protected from construction, but unfortunately the trees died by the early 1960’s after drainage rerouting altered the soil conditions.

Figure 1. Terrain assessment of East-3 area.

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Inuvik NWT Utilidor Replacement Inuvik Permafrost Building on permafrost proved to be a significant challenge to engineers and contractors. They expected to find a metre of permafrost, but discovered that Inuvik sits on 350 metres of ground that is frozen year round. To prevent heat from warm buildings thawing the permafrost, and causing them to sink, most structures were designed to sit on timber piles drilled five metres into the ground with about half to one metre of space between the ground and the bottom of the building.

The permafrost ground below Inuvik is “ice rich�, which means that when it melts, the ground may settle by 300 millimetres or more as the soil fills the voids left by the melting ice.

Figure 2. Ice lens In Inuvik permafrost

Inuvik’s ground is also thaw sensitive (warm) permafrost, which means that the temperature of the permafrost is only a few degrees below zero. Small variations in the ground temperature caused by the removal of the ground cover or by excavations will cause the permafrost to melt.

Original Inuvik Utilidor The original utilidor network contained water and sewage lines, plus a circulating high temperature hot water system to heat buildings. The utilidor structure was metal clad, heavily insulated, and supported on timber piles. Lost heat from the heating pipe kept the water and sewer line above freezing during the winter. Water and sewer systems are usually buried, but this was not done in Inuvik because it was unknown how the buried system would react to the freezing conditions, and it was anticipated that any buried system would be frozen by the cold ground temperatures.

Figure 3. Steam excavation for timber pile placement in Inuvik.

An econo utilidor was later introduced, which only carried water and sewer lines because building heat for some neighbourhoods came from oil fired furnaces. Hot water was added to the water line as necessary to keep this system from freezing in the winter.

Figure 4. Original Inuvik utilidor system.

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Inuvik NWT Utilidor Replacement The utilidor system functioned reasonably well, providing the “normal” amenities of southern Canada of running water and sewer, but had high capital and operating costs. At the time, the standard utilidor cost $600/metre to construct. The high costs arose from the construction of the high temperature, high pressure heating line, the 8 inch water lines and the utilidor alignment, which could not pass under buildings. Although well insulated, there was a high radiation heat loss from the side of the utilidor, which contributed to the high operating cost.

Figure 5. Original concept for utilidor placement NOTE: At grade crossing not used because of potential permafrost degradation.

Figure 6. Original completed utilidor without metal cladding

Modern Inuvik Utilidor The modern Inuvik utilidor runs along a dedicated right-ofway at the back of each lot, along with the power poles that service each building and the cost of installing these services is over $50,000 per lot. In most cases the utilidor is positioned in a dedicated right-of-way, but in some cases no right-ofway exists. The service connections exit above ground from each building and resemble a large “metal centipede” as they connect to the water and sewer mains. Road crossings of the utilidor create another challenge because the road must literally bridge the utilidor, at a cost of nearly $50,000 each.

The first generation of the utilidor was built with timber piles.

It was expected that the timber piles would last indefinitely because of the cold air and ground conditions. However, timber will eventually decompose if exposed to warm temperatures and moisture, even for brief periods of time in the north during the active layer thaw. This deterioration has been progressing for the past several decades and in a few cases houses have experienced catastrophic foundation failures.

Steel piles have been used for the past 20 years to replace the decomposing timber piles.

The utilidor creates unique development and planning challenges because it is above ground. The minimum floor level in a building must be high enough to drain by gravity to the sewer utilidor. Road crossings of the utilidor create unique humps in the streets. “Open” back yards are not very common because the utilidor service connections usually fill a significant portion of the backyard.

Figure 7: Modern utilidor system in Inuvik 76

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Inuvik NWT Utilidor Replacement Utilidor Design The utilidor is supported by steel piles, and thermal stability is maximized by placing the piles to a minimum of 6 metres into the ground. The piles are coated with heavy grease and wrapped with polyethylene to maintain a non-bonding surface between the ground and the pile for the inevitable shifting of the ground in the active layer. The piles are backfilled with a sand slurry which helps the bottom section of the pile freeze into the existing permafrost regime.

Figure 8. Pipe support for modern utilidor system in Inuvik

Figure 9. Line anchor for modern utilidor system in Inuvik

Figure 10. Water and sewer service connection to utilidor system.

The pipe used for the sewer and water system of the utilidor is an insulated steel pipe with a metal jacket covering the 50 mm of urethane insulation. The water and sewer pipes themselves serve as structural beams, which carry the gravity loads of water, cement mortar lining, the steel pipes, insulation, jacket, fittings and snow and ice. A standard space of 7 metres has been chosen as a reasonable balance between pile capacity, beam capacity and pile frequency. The pipes are Schedule 80 (12 mm wall thickness) with a cement mortar lining for corrosion resistance.

In addition to the thermal concerns in the vertical direction due to permafrost action, thermal movement is also a concern in the horizontal direction. With outside operating temperatures ranging from minus 50°C to plus 30°C, expansion and contraction of the pipe is significant. The thermal considerations for horizontal pipe movement include an expansion joint every 25 to 30 metres along the pipe. Each pipe support at the piles is a roller system to accommodate the horizontal movements. The movement of the pipe is also controlled with line anchors every 60 to 80 metres.

The ultimate objective of the utilidor system is to provide water and sewer connections to individual buildings. To accomplish this, a service box is attached to the utilidor near each building, and water and sewer services run into the box and ultimately into the building through a common carrier pipe. The service box provides easy access to the service connection or “utilidette”, and also provides a common space where heat from the system may provide additional freeze protection.

The common carrier pipe for the water and sewer services accomplishes the same freeze protection objective.

A similar configuration is used for hydrant servicing along the utilidor with hydrant boxes placed at intervals along the utilidor.

The hydrant boxes are painted red for easy identification.

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Inuvik NWT Utilidor Replacement Utilidor Construction Initial site work for the utilidor projects for both extension of the system, or replacement of the system includes: clearing and brushing of the utilidor alignment, temporary removal and replacement of private installations, excavation to the subgrade of the utilidor, preparation work pad and drainage related work.

The width of clear working area needed for a utilidor project is generally about 5 to 6 metres. About 4 metres may be required along one side of the pipe centerline for vehicle movement, as well as the utilidor installation.

Figure 11. Utilidor ground insulation in 2010.

Where the existing ground is excavated 250 mm or more for grading, the standard practice is to sub-excavate by a further 200 mm, install 100 mm of rigid close cell insulation and bring the ground elevation back up to grade. The insulation provides a thermal barrier to additional permafrost degradation.

The utilidor system (water and sewer mains, pile system, service connections, hydrants, etc.) have historically cost about $50,000 per lot or about $5,000 per metre. These costs were based upon a local contractor in Inuvik with a long standing success of capturing utilidor work. This contractor retired several years ago and the most recent costs for the utilidor (2010 construction season) have risen to $8,000 per metre.

Some of the individual cost components are: piles at $3,000 each; water and sewer mains at $1,000 per metre each; hydrant boxes at $6,000 each and expansion joints at $7,000 each.

Figure 12. Completed pile construction for utilidor and marking of sewer invert in 2010.

Figure 13. Completed utilidor in 2010.

Continuing Utilidor Construction There are approximately 18 kilometres of water and sewer utilidor services in Inuvik, including 10 kilometres of the original utilidor, and 5 kilometres of new utilidor replacing the original utilidor. The community continues to grow, and the utilidor has been extended by 2 kilometres to service the growth.

A program to replace the utilidor has been ongoing for the past 20 years, as funds come available, and will continue for many years into the future. The design and construction of the utilidor system is far from being a routine activity because of land use issues, permafrost conditions, and contractor skill.

The utilidor replacement is a continuing project, which ultimately depends upon the available capital funding. It is a very specialized system to operate as well as construct, and a globally unique cold region engineering design. The complete replacement of the original utilidor system in Inuvik may take decades to complete, with an estimated price tag of over a hundred million dollars.

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Canadian Forces Station Alert: Engineering at Canada’s Frozen Edge By: Ken Johnson, P.Eng. Originally published in the PEGG magazine in June 1998 The start of the engines of the Hercules aircraft creates a vibration and noise that becomes very familiar over the day and a half of travel north to reach Canadian Forces Station (CFS) Alert, at the northern tip of Ellesmere Island. Not until landing in Alert does one come to realize that the only thing that lies between Alert and Santa’s home is 800 kilometres of permanent ice pack. Edmonton, Alberta, the closest major Canadian city, is 3,500 kilometres to the south, while Stockholm, Sweden is a mere 3,200 km away.

CFS Alert is the most northern permanently inhabited settlement on the globe, situated at 82 degrees, 30 minutes north latitude, and 62 degrees, 19 minutes west longitude.

Alert was first settled in the early 1950's as a weather station, and was followed by the establishment of a Canadian military station in 1958.

From early April to early September the sun never sets on Alert, and from early October to early March the other extreme occurs, and there is no direct sunlight. During the summer months Alert experiences 28 frost-free days on average, and an average daily high temperature of 10 degrees Celsius. The record high temperature for the station is 20 degrees Celsius, while the record low is -50 degrees Celsius.

The terrain in the vicinity of CFS Alert is rugged with undulating hills. The ocean pack ice remains close to shore during the short summer, and is continuous from shore to horizon in winter. The permafrost at the station thaws only to a maximum of one metre during the course of the summer.

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Transportation in and out of Alert relies solely upon aircraft, and in particular, the C140 Hercules. Alert has one regularly scheduled flight each week from Canadian Forces Base Trenton, which is 4000 kilometres to the south. The Hercs and the occasional civilian aircraft utilize a 5000 foot gravel airfield with a 900 foot overrun.

The Herc is an amazingly transportation workhorse that not only airlifts the weekly supply of perishable essentials for the station, but also airlifts for the entire wet (fuel) and dry (all other materials) resupply for the station. The resupply is completed in 2 fourteen day periods during the fall of each year in an operation referred to as Boxtop, which requires round trip flights from the Thule Airbase 600 kilometres to the south in Greenland.

Transportation around the station makes use of a variety of wheeled and tracked vehicles, on a limited length of roads. The most significant roads provide access to the water supply, 4 kilometres from the base, and the atmospheric observatory operated by Environment Canada.

Vehicles are kept running 24 hours per day during the winter months in order to minimize vehicle freezing problems, and wheel blocks are used instead of emergency brakes .

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A recent evolution in the station transportation has been the conversion to a common fuel (JP8) for all engines on the station, including the power supply generators. This simple change in operations has greatly improved the waste management practices for the station by accommodating bulk fuel supply for the majority of the base operations and reducing the need for fuel supplied in barrels.

CFS Alert, like many northern facilities, has suffered from the accumulation of thousands of fuel supply barrels over its operating life. The use of barrels presents problems for resupply, organization on site, and management of old barrels, many of which are partially full and poorly marked. The transition to a common bulk fuel on the station has reduced the resupply and organization problems, and a program to catalogue and appropriately dispose of the old barrels, and their contents has reduced the problem of managing old barrels.

Potable water for the station is pumped four kilometres from Dumbbell Lake in an above ground insulated high density polyethylene water line with a smaller recirculating water line. The three water intake points in Dumbbell Lake are positioned well below the thick ice which forms on the lake. The water is chlorinated and stored in 2 - 50,000 gallon storage tanks in the water building, and the water is distributed above ground throughout the station with an independent piped recirculating system. The station is also served with an insulated high density polyethylene gravity sewer which discharges into a natural lagoon open to the ocean.

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A solid waste management program for the base has implemented a segregation program to employ either recycling for transportation south, or incineration at the station. A landfill is still utilized for the incineration residuals.

Alert has a total of six engine powered generators to serve the station. Four main generators each have a capacity of 850 kilowatts, and two backup generators each have a capacity of 1600 kilowatts. The station can normally operate on two of the main generators, and the excess power generating capability provides several levels of backup to this isolated post.

Communication is another critical aspect of the station’s operation and survival. Since global communication satellites are too far below the horizon at Alert, a six station ground based microwave system must be used to relay the communication signals to a latitude where satellite uplink is possible. Eureka, a station 400 km to the south of Alert, plays this critical role as a communications centre for the high arctic. The microwave stations between Eureka and Alert are annually refurbished in an exercise referred to as Operation Hurricane.

Canadian Forces may occasionally joke that is the Russians who justify the presence at Canada’s frozen edge, however this threat has significantly decreased since the end of the Cold War. The Canadian military at CFS Alert, in addition to their communications research, are in fact asserting Canadian sovereignty to the world’s most northerly inhabited place.

Acknowledgments The author wishes to acknowledge the generous support of Professor Jean Heroux of the Environmental Engineering Research Group at the Royal Military College, Kingston, and Major Barron Meyerhoffer of the Directorate of Information Management Operational Direction 5 (DIMOD 5), Department of National Defence.

The author also wishes to thank Commanding Officer Robert Lecouyer, and Station Warrant Officer Jim Wall for the hospitality during his stay in Alert, and Station Warrant Officer Boyce Partridge for the hospitality during his stay in Eureka.

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The Race for Northern Gas Ken Johnson, MCIP, P.Eng. PEGG Contributor Revised 2004 03 04 The “race for northern gas” has turned a new page with the January, 2004 announcement by MidAmerican Energy that the completion of a gas pipeline from the North Slope of Alaska to the border of the Yukon Territory, along the Alaska Highway, is planned for 2010. The competition between the “Alaska Highway” gas pipeline and the “Mackenzie Valley “ gas pipeline is not new, and is a minor drama that has taken a number of twists and turns over the past 20 years. The recent announcement by the Alaskan’s is a new chapter because the construction of the Mackenzie Valley gas pipeline is also scheduled for completion by the end of the decade.

Many pipeline proponents do not express any concern with two pipelines ultimately providing northern gas, because the future demands for natural gas across North America will ultimately provide a market for the product. However, concerns arise on the construction scheduling of the pipelines, and the associated technical demands for construction resources (man and machine) and the pipeline materials. It is generally agreed that the construction of the two pipelines cannot proceed concurrently.

There is also speculation that the flood of new northern gas on the market from the “first” pipeline will create a price slump, and change the economics, and ultimately the schedule for the “second” pipeline. Speculation, however, is for Wall Street and somewhat removed from the engineering and construction realities of northern pipeline “mega” projects.

Table 1. Northern Pipeline Summaries

Cost ($ Canadian) Total Distance Diameter Construction Seasons Estimated Labour Capacity Pipeline Sections Major Compressor Stations Minor Compressor Stations Operating Pressure Type of Pipe Steel

Alaska Highway Pipeline $15 billion 2800 km 1200 mm (48 in) 4 years 60,000 person-years 4.5 bcfd * 12 12 26 2050 psi X80

Mackenzie Valley Pipeline $4 billion 1300 km 750 mm (30 in) 2 winters 20,000 person-years 1.2 bcfd * 11 3 8 2050 psi X80

* billion cubic feet per day

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The pipe needed for the both northern pipelines is a unique product with 25 mm (one inch) wall thickness, and the X80 pipe grading, which can withstand extreme cold conditions. X80 pipe has a yield strength of between 80,000 psi (552 Mpa) and 100,000 psi (690 Mpa), and a tensile strength between 90,000 psi (621 Mpa) and 120,000 psi (827 Mpa). The assembly of the pipe will require the use of a Submerged Arc Weld (SAW).

The pipe itself would probably be delivered over a two-year program with the pipe manufacturing tender going to one steel mill, and deliveries coming in stages. Although the large diameter and thick-walled pipe is a specialty item, several mills around the world are capable of producing quantities on the scale required. An estimated 4.5 million tonnes of pipe will be needed in for the Alaska highway pipeline, and the cost of pipe itself is estimated to constitute upwards of 25-35 percent of the cost of the pipeline.

The construction seasons for the Mackenzie Valley pipeline project are planned for the first four months of 2008 and 2009, with pre-construction activities taking place in 2006 and 2007. Preconstruction and construction activities are expected to begin in 2006. Development drilling within the natural gas fields is planned to start in 2007 and continue until 2009. Construction will include:    

The three natural gas fields in the Mackenzie Delta (Taglu, Parsons Lake and Niglintgak); The gathering system from the gas fields, and main pipeline system; The compressor stations and natural gas liquids facilities; and Construction support facilities, such as construction camps, barge landing sites, airstrips, temporary and permanent roads, borrow sites, and stockpile sites

Temporary, self-contained work camps will be set up and operated during construction. Each of the three natural gas fields will have a camp to support drilling and facility construction operations. Camps will also be set up along the pipeline route, at compressor station sites, and at the natural gas liquids facility near Inuvik.

The proposed Mackenzie natural gas pipeline faces the regulatory hurdles of 16 separate environmental agencies, and between 400 and 500 individual permits from regulatory organizations. The 1,300 kilometre pipeline travels through Inuvialuit, Gwich'in, Sahtu and Deh Cho lands - all with land and water boards that have to approve the project.

The fate of the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline may hang in the balance after a fresh demand from the Deh Cho First Nation, located in the southern Northwest Territories. Deh Cho leadership has notified the federal government of their desire for two seats on the seven-member panel which will preside over pipeline environmental hearings. If they don't get what they want, Deh Cho First Nation’s next step could be a court injunction, bringing pipeline development to a halt.

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The “race for northern gas� will be front and centre at the upcoming Cold Regions Engineering and Construction Conference and Expo (CRECCE) in Edmonton this May. Over 300 delegates, 120 technical presentations, and 40 exhibitors are expected at the 3 day event starting on May 16th. ___________________________________________________________________ Ken Johnson, M.A.Sc., MCIP, P.Eng., is a Senior Planner and Engineer with Earth Tech Canada in Edmonton. Ken has been working in the north for almost 20 years, and he is a nationally recognized expert on northern community infrastructure. He has been a contributing writer to the PEGG for 10 years, and maintains an award winning web site on cold region technology called CRYOFRONT.

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Diamonds in the North – “Ice” Beneath the Ice Ken Johnson Originally Published in the PEGG, September 1998 When Europeans first explored the tundra of the Northwest Territories, they called it the Barren Lands – an area with the permafrost, boulders, thousands of tiny blue lakes, and bedrock in excess of one billion years old. This area is so far north that the only vegetation it supports are grasses, arctic wild flowers, and small trees that cling to the ground for warmth.

One of the largest lakes in the area, 350 km northeast of Yellowknife, is Lac de Gras. The Dogrib people call it Ekati, (English translation – Fat Lake) because the bits of quartz found on its shores resemble caribou fat. The land surrounding the lake is the traditional hunting ground of the Dene and the Inuit, where 350,000 caribou pass through each spring and fall. The most abundant wildlife for the casual visitor to the area appears to be mosquitoes, which have a strong affinity toward engineers.

In 1992 this area of the NWT was the focus of a swarm of prospectors and geologists in search of diamonds. These were not industrial diamonds, but the highly prized white diamonds. The prospectors and geologists found them and continue to find them under the tiny blue lakes – northern Canadian diamonds, the so called “ice” under the ice.

More Mines Planned Starting in October this year, Canada’s first diamond mine, now referred to as the Ekati Diamond Mine, will enter into production of $500-million worth of gems a year. The Ekati Diamond Mine is owned by BHP Diamonds Inc. (51 per cent), Dia Met Minerals Ltd. (29 per cent), and by two individuals Charles E. Fipke (10 per cent) and Steward Blusson (10 per cent). The Ekati, on which $900 million will have been spent on development and construction by the time it opens this fall, is just the first of several diamond mines expected to come on stream in the N.W.T. in the next few years. Once a second mine is operating early in the next millennium, $1-billion worth of diamonds will be mined yearly.

A question remains as to why is a country with the highest probability of hosting a diamond mine is one of the last to develop such a mine? In geological terms, diamond deposits are hosted by Archean formations, and the largest Archean formations on Earth occur in Canada. Canada’s two formations dwarf the clusters of favorable ground found elsewhere on the planet.

Unfortunately, the bedrock of Canada’s diamond areas was scoured by glaciation a mere 10,000 years ago, and, as a result, the indicator minerals were spread in all directions. It was not until the glaciologists became involved in the hunt for diamonds that the actual origins were identified. It may be a surprise to know that in the 1960s the De Beers syndicate identified diamond bearing minerals in Ontario.

Isolation and Cold The Ekati Diamond Mine experiences winter temperatures that may reach minus 54 degrees Celsius. The site is accessible only by air and a 425-kilometre ice road, which is open for approximately 12 weeks each year. Since construction started in 1996, the Ekati Diamond Mine

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has grown into a community of 700, making it one of the larger population centres in the North.

A single project of this magnitude has not been undertaken North of 60 since the Canol Pipeline and Alaska Highway projects of the early 1940s.

The kimberlite pipes, or the diamond-bearing formations of the Ekati mine, include the names Panda, Ekati, Koala, Misery, Sable and Fox. Starting with Panda, each of the lake-covered pipes will be mined sequentially over a 25-year period.

Open-Pit Mine Open-pit mining methods are used to mine the ore, once the lake is drained and the surface runoff diverted. Particular attention has been paid to maintaining the natural runoff in the area around the mine. Ore will be hauled from the pits in 218-tonne trucks to the process plant, where 9,000 tonnes of ore will be handled each day to produce $1.5 million in diamonds. Waste rock and sediment recovered from the Panda Lake bottom was crushed and used to construct haul roads, access roads and the site airstrip.

At the process plant, the ore will be crushed, screened and washed producing a concentrate.

Heavy minerals and diamonds will be recovered from the concentrate using heavy media separation, and the remaining concentrate will be moved by conveyor to the final recovery plant where further diamonds will be sorted using X-ray technology. With X-ray sorting system, the concentrate passes under an X-ray tube, where the diamonds’ luminescence triggers an air jet and diverts the diamonds into an extraction chute.

The main facilities in the site developments for the Ekati Diamond Mine have included ore crushing and conveying equipment, stockpiling and reclaiming equipment’s, a process plant, and processed kimberlite conveyance and storage systems. The key support facilities for the site include a 22 MW diesel power plant, process and potable water supplies, sewage treatment and disposal, shops and warehouses, administration and accommodation buildings, and a gravel runway.

Unique Considerations The civil and structural engineering for the site development had a number of unique factors to consider. Structural designs were prepared with consideration to maximizing off-site assemblies, and the load limit of the ice road access to the mine. Special planning was required for ground excavations, site grading and stockpiling of concrete aggregates and structural backfill material because of the limited construction season. Engineering techniques involved the use of piles, elevated building, foundation insulation and subterranean ventilation ducts to minimize the disturbance to the permafrost.

Heat recovery from the diesel fired power generating system is the primary source of thermal energy for the process plant and accommodation complex at the mine. The heat is recovered from the cooling system engines of the power generators. However, diesel-fired boilers are maintained as a backup and for peak heat demands.

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Utilidor Offer Comfort A utility corridor or Utilidor system for the site allows workers to travel to and from the process plant, truck shop and offices without exposure to extreme outdoor temperatures. The utilidors were constructed using steel trussed galleries with concrete floors on a metal roof. Each utilidor contains a walkway, pipe racks and cable trays.

The processed kimberlite management plan for the mine utilizes frozen core earth dams to retain the process water in a series of impoundments separated by filtering berms, The frozen core material for the dams, consisting of crushed gravel and hot water, was placed in 300 mm lifts, which were allowed to freeze before a next lift was placed. A geo-composite liner was also installed in the interior of the frozen core to provide additional strength to the dam.

Thermosyphons extend vertically through the core and beneath the base of the dam to maintain the integrity of the permafrost.

Engineering on the project was fast-tracked in order to purchase materials and equipment for transportation over the 1997 winter ice road. More than 2,000 truckloads of materials travelled across the ice road during the 12-week shipping window in 1997, and another 2,000 truckloads were shipped in 1998.

The Ekati Diamond Mine is the beginning of a new era of development in Canada’s North, and represents only a small portion of the mineral wealth within what is known as the Slave Geological Province of the Northwest Territories. The Ekati Mine development is providing many new opportunities for northerners, while minimizing the impact on the sensitive northern environment.

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50 YEARS OF WASTEWATER MANAGEMENT AND IMPROVEMENTS IN IQALUIT, NUNAVUT Ken Johnson Glenn Prosko Stantec Consulting

In 1964, a water treatment plant was constructed beside Lake Geraldine above the community of Frobisher Bay. This facility set the stage for "modern" water and sanitation facilities in the community, and what has become an infrastructure quandary for the community of Frobisher Bay, now the City of Iqaluit.

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The wastewater treatment facility in Iqaluit is situated at the head of Koojesse, Inlet, beside a primary sewage lagoon that was used for many years.

Directly to the Ocean At the discharge end of the water system in 1964, the sanitary sewer outfall consisted of a five pipe system that discharged raw sewage directly from a gravity collection system into the salt water of Koojesse Inlet. The community has lead the way in many circumstances with innovation and leadership in advancing "standards and criteria" for water and sanitation systems in the far north. At the same time, the community has been at the mercy of a variety of circumstances that have placed the community many steps behind in elements of the infrastructure expectations for a regional centre, now the capital city of Nunavut.

The shoreline discharge of raw sewage was maintained for the next dozen years

until the construction of several lift stations provided the means to pump the sewage to macerator system at the head of Koojesse Inlet. The macerator technology was constructed at 6 sites across the Northwest Territories (NWT and Nunavut), and ultimately the technology failed at all of the locations.

The formal explanation for the failure was "vortexing problems with the bagged sewage in the hopper", and the informal explanation was that the honey bags (plastic bags containing the sewage) were too strong and ultimately jammed the macerator.

The macerator experiment was probably the first experience that the communities of the north with "inappropriate" large scale water and sanitation technology.

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Successful Lagoon Operation

Concurrent with the construction of the macerator station in Iqaluit was the construction of a holding pond built on the tidal plain at the head of Koojesse Inlet. The lagoon was created by the construction of two berms which connected the existing shoreline to an island.

This facility operated successfully for several decades, although several overflow and breaching events demanded improvements in the earth structures, and the perimeter drainage to the facility. The lagoon performed well as a primary treatment facility, with a continuous discharge, providing 10 to 15 days of detention time. The effluent quality from the lagoon systems varied significantly over the course of the year because the only process at work in the winter months was sedimentation, with biodegradation enhancing the process performance during the summer months.

Great Expectations Expectations for improvements in the primary treatment system prompted Iqaluit in the early 90's to retain a consultant to complete an engineering feasibility study for improving the wastewater treatment system. The initial scope of work included only the consideration of improving the sewage detention capabilities, with the expectation that this would improve upon the overall quality of the primary effluent.

This scope of work was expanded to include options for a mechanical treatment system; these options included a rotating biological contactor (RBC), an extended aeration system (EA) and a sequencing batch reactor (SBR). These options were evaluated against nine lagoon options, that included relocating the lagoon facility to other areas on the perimeter of the community. The highest rated scenario from a decision analysis evaluation was the construction of a new facility, consisting of a detention lagoon (primary treatment) west of the community, and the construction of an outfall into the deeper water of Koojesse Inlet; the capital cost of this option was estimated to be $5.7 million (1994 dollars). None of these options advanced beyond the feasibility stage.

A Design-Build Experience Regulatory pressure was placed upon Iqaluit to advance a system capable of producing secondary treatment effluent quality. Based upon a decision in 1997, a design build request for proposals was issued, and a proponent was selected to build a secondary sewage treatment facility. A designbuild contract was awarded in 1998, and the contractor selected a membrane bioreactor (MBR) process applying the Zeeweed membrane technology.

This facility operated successfully for several decades ‌ 93

The inexperience of the design builder in northern wastewater treatment became evident by mid 1999.

Significant problems began to arise concerning the placement of concrete within the water retaining aeration basins. Upon filling the basins, major leakage was observed, in addition to deflections in the walls of the basins due to insufficient structural strength.

To effectively deal with the problem, Iqaluit suspended all construction activities, and retained the services of a third party structural engineer to complete the necessary structural investigations and make recommendations for remedial work.

Remedial work was completed, and the water retaining aeration basins were determined to be structurally sound and retain water.

At this point, the design builder effectively abandoned the project.

Iqaluit subsequently became aware of additional design and construction problems with the facility.

Evaluation of an Un-commissioned Facility An evaluation of the un-commissioned sewage treatment plant was completed in 2002, and included an accounting of all the electrical, instrumentation, mechanical, structural, and architectural equipment or features found within the plant, and comparing this to

the equipment and features presented in the design documents. This accounting identified significant deficiencies in both the design and construction.

These deficiencies were generally associated with the hydraulic capacity; process efficiency; overall durability against extreme cold weather conditions, and a corrosive plant environment. As well, the deficiencies were associated with the ability of plant personnel to operate and maintain a complex and highly automated facility in a safe, efficient, and practical manner.

The evaluation presented recommendations to replace, or modify, electrical, instrumentation, mechanical, and structural elements of the existing facility. In consultation with the Iqaluit, the remedial work was designed to utilize a conventional wastewater treatment process technology, and abandon the application of MBR technology.

Construction in 2005 provided preliminary and primary treatment to an MBR facility that was abandoned by a design build contractor.

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Moving Forward with Secondary Treatment The move forward with remedial work was presented in a phased approach recognizing that the financial capacity of Iqaluit may dictate an incremental approach. As well, a phased approach recognized the efficiency of expanding the facility with the population increase in the community.

The design of the remedial work incorporated the existing structure and process equipment as much as possible, which was a hallmark feature of the work. A Phase 1 of the design proceeded to construction to complete a primary treatment system for a design population of 12,000. The treatment processes consisted of an auger screen from the original facility, and a primary screen (Salsnes Filter) housed in an addition to the original building envelope. This addition also provided a building envelope for the sewage lift station associated with the original work.

A Phase 2 of the work would include the design and construction of a secondary clarifier to match the hydraulic capacity of the aeration basins to be converted from the MBR process. The completion of new secondary clarifiers would provide for a fully functional secondary treatment plant capable handling the flow for a population of 8,000.

A future Phase 3 for the facility would include the design and construction of additional aeration basins with the hydraulic capacity for a population of 12,000. However, the available funding for the project accommodated only the completion of Phase 1, and Phase 2 was shelved for implementation in the future.

Eight years after completion of the Phase 1 work, the project is proceeding and the City of Iqaluit has retained Stantec to provide the cold regions engineering expertise for the completion of the feasibility phase of a secondary sewage treatment facility.

An important consideration for the facility is the influence of septage (trucked sewage) on the facility performance, which is still accounts for about 1/3 of the flow into the facility.

The feasibility stage of the project will make sure that “no stone is left unturned� regarding treatment alternatives, as the community embarks on the final chapter in a process that has been "in the works" for 20 years.

Septage (trucked) sewage) is currently dumped into the sewer system immediately upstream of the waste water treatment facility.

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Water and Sewer Systems Serving Dawson City, Yukon Norm Carlson, Public Works Manager, Dawson City, YT Ken Johnson, Senior Engineer and Planner, Earth Tech Canada, Edmonton, AB Originally published in the NTWWA Journal, 2007 Introduction Dawson City, Yukon Territory is a community of approximately 1,500 people, located in the mid-western section of the Territory, in an area of discontinuous permafrost. The Town’s water and sewer services are provided by a buried insulated high density polyethylene pipe (HDPE) utility system which was completed around 1980. The water and sewer infrastructure is reasonably complex in both its construction and operation; the operation alone requires a dedicated staff of 5 individuals.

The date of construction of the first components of the Dawson City water and sewer system is not known precisely, however, it has been recorded that Dawson had a water and sewer system in operation as early as 1904. A description of the system operation in 1911 states that "only three or four houses in Dawson were equipped with year-round running water. To prevent their freezing in winter, the water pipes had to be linked to parallel pipes of live steam which must be kept constantly hot. In addition, the water must be kept moving through the pipes continually, and thence through an insulated outlet all the way to the river.” The original pipe installations were wood stave construction, and this piping continued to be used until the 1970’s (See Figure 1 above).

Beyond the piping systems that are associated with the infrastructure, there are 12 facilities that are an integral part of the infrastructure.

The facilities handle approximately 850,000 cubic metres (190 million Imperial gallons) each of water and sewage in a year (2005 estimate).

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Dawson Water System Dawson City’s water system facilities consist of the water source, the water storage, and the water treatment and distribution. The water source is a series of three wells located along the river bank, near the junction of the Klondike and Yukon Rivers (See Figure 2 above), drilled to depths of approximately 22 metres (70 feet). One original well was installed in 1959, and three additional wells were installed in 1991 to provide additional capacity. The newer wells are situated in concrete access vaults with an adjacent well control building. The original well is situated in a wooden building, and is generally used only as an emergency back up supply.

The water storage consists of two insulated steel reservoirs beside the water treatment and distribution building (See Figure 3 on the left). The two reservoirs have a combined storage of approximate 1300 cubic metres (290,000 Imperial gallons), which provides storage for drinking water supply and fire protection.

The water treatment and distribution consists of a building which contains various chemical, heating, pumping, electrical and piping systems for water treatment, freeze protection for the system, and water distribution. The water treatment consists of controlled chlorine gas injection into the water prior to distribution into the buried water system.

Freeze protection for the water system is needed during the winter; the water in the pipes cools as it flows through the distribution piping, therefore additional heat is required to prevent the water in the pipes from freezing. The water is also recirculated by pumping to confirm the water temperature in the pipe, and provide additional freeze protection – online hydrants are a feature of this type of recirculating system (See Figure 4 on the right). The water distribution system itself consists of 16 kilometres (10 miles) of insulated, buried HDPE water main. The distribution system includes approximately 700 service connections to buildings and 85 fire hydrants. The system also includes a valve chamber building for controlling the flow of water.

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Dawson Sewage System Dawson City’s sewage system facilities consist of the five lift stations, and the sewage treatment plant. The sewage collection system itself consists of 16 kilometres (10 miles) of insulated, buried sanitary sewer, and approximately 3.5 kilometres (2 miles) of buried forcemain from the lift stations. The sewage lift stations generally consist of submersible pumping systems in wetwells, with control buildings either on top of or adjacent to the wet wells. Four of the lift stations may be considered “small” facilities, and the remaining facility may be considered a medium sized facility. Four of the lift stations collect sewage from the developments along the Klondike Highway along the access highway into Dawson City.

The sewage treatment facility consists of a primary screening operation using two 0.75 millimetre mesh rotostrainers housed in a multi level building (See Figure 5 on the left).

The sewage discharges into the Yukon River, mid-channel 200 metres (650 feet) west of perimeter dyke that surrounds the community.

Challenges of Dawson City Water and Sewage System Subsoil conditions in Dawson City typically consist of a surface layer of common road fill 0.6 to 0.9 metres in thickness, underlain by organics, organic silts, and silts to a depth of 3 to 5 metres. This layer of silt and organic silt has an ice content varying from zero to greater than 50 percent excess ice content.

Beneath this layer of organic silt, a layer of alluvial gravels has been deposited by the Yukon River; these gravels are relatively dense and thaw stable.

This area is in the widespread discontinuous permafrost zone, with mean ground temperatures in the range of -1.5 C, which is considered to be “warm” permafrost. Since the permafrost temperature is just below freezing, the permafrost may thaw or degrade very easily from disturbances such as the installation of underground utilities. Problems with respect to water and sewer systems in these soil conditions have caused ground subsidence due to thaw of the ice rich permafrost, seasonal frost heave of buried foundations and utility pipes, or groundwater conditions. In a two year period, in the mid 1980’s over 225 metres of polyethylene sewer pipe failed by ovalling or collapsing.

The problems due to frost action in the soils were compounded in the vicinity of hydrants, vertical risers and service connections because a vertical restraint is imposed on the piping system. At service connection locations, there were numerous examples of service risers

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causing a local collapse of the main because of the vertical load on the horizontal sewer main. Adjacent to hydrants and valves, pipe failures occurred at fusion weld joints because of bending or torque along the connecting pipe.

The unique soil conditions in Dawson City has required the development of unique water and sewer piping materials and installation techniques. Several studies in the late 1980’s compared pipe and bedding configurations, and developed the corrugated cover on insulated HDPE piping that is the pipe standard for Dawson City today (See Figures 6 below). The installation of the pipe requires consideration of the permafrost conditions to ensure that the area around the excavation is not significantly disturbed, particularly in areas where the permafrost has a lot of ice lensing.

Future Water and Sewer Improvements Dawson City continues to incrementally address the challenges of operating and maintaining a water and sewer facilities in the heart of Klondike. Bleeder reduction has been a priority over the past several years and water metering has been implemented to reduce water down in the range of 500 litres/capital/day from winter extremes of 1500 litres/capita/day. A comprehensive water and sewer facility assessment was completed in 2006, which has provided Dawson with the framework for system improvements over the next 20 years. The most significant initiative has been the replacement of the preliminary treatment system with an aerated lagoon treatment system, which is scheduled for completion in 2010.

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CSCE 2007 Annual General Meeting & Conference Congrès annuel et assemblée générale annuelle SCGC 2007 Yellowknife, Northwest Territories / Yellowknife, Territoires du nord-ouest June 6-9, 2007 / 6 au 9 juin 2007

Snare River Hydro - A History Dedication Ken Johnson, Earth Tech Canada Greg Haist, Northwest Territories Power Corporation Abstract The Snare River hydro system is one of the most northerly hydro electric systems in Canada. The system produces electricity at four plants and supplies electricity to the communities of Rae- Edzo, N'Dilo, Dettah, and Yellowknife, and to the Giant and Con gold mines. Downstream sites to the original 1948 facility were developed at Snare Falls in 1961, Snare Forks in 1975, and Snare Cascades in 1996 as electricity demand increased in the region.

Although challenges associated with cold region engineering were reasonably well defined after the construction of the Alaska Highway and the Canol Pipeline in the early 1940's, these were essentially transportation, structural and petroleum engineering projects. Water resource engineering had little opportunity for cold region engineering applications until the Snare Hydro project.

Initial hydro power development in the NWT was the result of the demand for electricity by the gold mines operating around Yellowknife. The need for power was large enough to justify the expense of harnessing the energy from the Yellowknife River in 1938. The mines were the first to build a hydroelectric generating station in the NWT. The Federal Government saw the rapid expansion of the mining sector near Yellowknife as an indicator of the need for a coordinated utility industry in the North. Federal officials were reluctant to let another mine develop and own another hydro site. At the suggestion of the federal industry minister, a crown corporation (NWT Power Commission) was approved by parliament to oversee the development of the Snare River Hydro Project.

In the spring of 1946, the Department of Mines and Resources commenced construction of a Hydro Power Plant on the Snare River 150 kilometres northwest of Yellowknife. The site was only accessible by air, or tractor train in the winter months. The eight megawatt facility was commissioned in October, 1948.

1. Background Between 1930 to 1940, when gold mining became a low priority to the more important activities associated with national defence, a series of promising discoveries occurred in the Yellowknife area of the Northwest Territories. The Consolidated Mining and Smelting Company was among the first to follow staking with development, and in 1933 the Con Mine was brought into production.

The Giant Yellowknife Mine, which is located just miles north of the Con, was originally staked in 1935, but it was not until 1945 that extensive development began. The culmination of these activities in the summer of 1948 was the completion of a 500-ton mill, which ultimately need electrical power to operate.

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Water power investigations were underway seeking power for the Giant Mine in several streams in the region in 1944. In 1944, detailed reconnaissance was underway, and in 1945 reconnaissance of the Snare River watershed ultimately chose a location on the Snare River as most advantageous site for hydro power development. In general, most streams in the Northwest Territories have similar characteristics. With the small amount of rainfall, the water supply is dependent largely on the snowmelt.

Spring run off typically starts at an NWT river headwaters in June, and the flood stage affects the lower reaches of the river in late August. The remarkably late period of high water is due not only long winter and late spring, but also the nature of the watersheds and river channels. The Canadian Shield terrain of the region is made up of rounded granite knolls or hills, with the depressions between the hills containing muskeg or lakes. These terrain and vegetation features create a long retention for runoff, and remarkably small variations in seasonal flow.

The first discharge measurements of the Snare River were made late in 1944, therefore four years of actual runoff records were available prior to construction of the Snare Hydro project. The highest measured discharge was 3,980 cfs on August 25, 1946, and the peak flow was estimated at 4200 cfs.

The low discharge occurred on April 30 of the same year at. 393 cfs, and the mean flow for four years was calculated to be 1,430 cfs. Big Spruce Lake provides a storage basin 7 square miles in area, and the adjacent Kwejinne Lake provides an additional 27 square miles, resulting in a total reservoir area at 22,000 acres, and a usable storage of approximately 220,000 acre ft.

Cost estimates were made and in January 1946, and preparation began for construction. Machinery was purchased and delivered to the in February of that year. As the construction of the power plant and transmission line began, Giant Mines resources were pushed their limits. As a result Giant officials approached the Government of Canada for assistance, and an agreement was reached for the Government to build the power plant and Giant to build the transmission line. Ultimately the Government of Canada took over the transmission line.

2. Project Mobilization The project is located on the Snare River, 2 kilometres south of the outlet of Big Spruce Lake, at latitude 63°30' north, and longitude 116° 00' west. The inaccessibility of the site presented a serious problem.

The railheads at Grimshaw and Waterways, Alberta, were about 800 kilometres south by air, and the nearest source of supplies in Yellowknife was 140 km by air, and 210 kilometres by cat train. The closest water port, Fort Rae, was 60 kilometres by air and 100 kilometres by cat train. In placing orders for materials advance planning was essential, so that shipments would arrive in time to meet deadline dates for water or cat train transport.

Figure 1. Snare Hydro site location.

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Furthermore, the post World War 2 shortages of many important materials were at a peak during the early stages of the project. A lot of the equipment was in transit for more than a year, transhipped in many cases from railway to riverboat at Waterways, to cat train at the portage around the rapids near Fort Smith, back to a river boat and ultimately unloaded near Fort Rae to await loading onto sleds in February for the final lap to Snare. The navigation season lasts roughly from July 1st to September 20.

Transportation rates from Waterways to Frank's Channel, near Fort Rae, were $35 to $40 per ton. In 1948, a 600 km road was also constructed from Grimshaw, Alberta to Hay River, NWT on the south shore of Great Slave a distance of 600 kilometres. However, the Snare site was still another 400 kilometres from Hay River by cat train.

Air transport in light aircraft was possible year round with the exception of the periods during freezeup or breakup, but the aircraft were limited to loads of less than 1500 lbs. Cat trains became the major means of transporting heavy freight during the late weeks of the winter when the ice reached a maximum thickness of nearly a metre. The period during which Great Slave Like may be crossed with a minimum of danger is limited to two months.

The usual procedure for cat trains was to plow a plow a road with a bulldozer through the snow covering the ice, followed by a series of up to 10 cat trains, each containing up to ten heavy sleighs pulled by a tractor. The total pay load pulled by one tractor under favourable conditions could reach 125 tons, but the normal load was 50 to 75 tons. Each train was self contained with a caboose where the two crews would eat and sleep.

The first freight to the Snare site was delivered during the late winter of 1945-46, and consisted of some construction equipment, dynamite and cement. During the summer of 1946 equipment, lumber, cement, dynamite and non-perishable food supplies were delivered by water to Frank's Channel. This, together with further construction materials from Grimshaw and Yellowknife, was brought by tractor to the project site in March of 1947. This winter mobilization operation involved 1,577 tons at a cost of $0.456 per tonmile.

In the open water season of 1947, approximately 1200 tons of material, including the main transformers and the generator upper bracket were delivered to Frank's Channel. In February and March 1948, this tonnage was hauled to Snare, and in April, 220 tons of machinery, trucked from Grimahaw, was brought by cat train from Hay River. This tractor haul was done at a cost of $0.345 per ton-mile. At the same time, 250 tons of cement and small freight was flown frame Hay River to the site in DC3 aircraft at a cost of $149 per ton. The total cost of transportation of materials and manpower amounted to 13 percent of the total cost of the project.

3. Project Construction The site of the Snare River dam and plant is located in a narrow section of the river valley. The development consists of an earth fill dam spanning across a rock island for a total crest width of 763 ft, a concrete intake structure with trash racks and roller gate at the upstream end of the rock island, which admits water to a tunnel through the rock island. The foundation for the dam consists mainly of exposed bedrock. The power house is located at the downstream end of the tunnel, and contains one main unit of 5350 hp at 56 foot head.

The entrance structure is a reinforced concrete tower at the tunnel portal with contains the roller type gate and host. The powerhouse building was a steel frame construction with walls consisting of a double course of concrete blocks made at the site. A void space between the two concrete block wall was filled with rock wool for added insulation. Water is admitted to the turbine through 13.5 foot diameter welded steel penstock, grouted into the lower end of the tunnel.

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Dewatering of the project site was accomplished by tunneling 256 ft through the rock island. Since the floor of the tunnel was five feet below the tailwater, the upper half was tunneled while a timber crib coffer dam was being erected at the head of the north channel. Logs cut on Big Spruce Lake and yielded 280,000 feet of rough lumber for the job. The tunnels and channels were completed in November 1946.

The earth fill dam has constructed of a rolled impervious fine silt core, and pervious embankments graded from fine sand, adjacent to the core, to quarried rock at the outer faces. The side slopes are 2.5 to 1 on the downstream face of the dam, and 3 to 1 on the upstream face of the dam. The impervious material for the core of was obtained in nearby swamps, and consisted of fine glacial silt with of a very uniform size, and low permeability. The sand required for pervious zones of the dam was found in great abundance and in a great range of grading within twelve hundred feet of the site. A total of 165,000 cubic yards of material is contained in the dam.

Figure 2. Profile of Snare Hydro dam.

The core material in its natural state was permanently frozen, and entrained considerable excess moisture before it was placed. Considerable effort was initially undertaken to place the core material with an optimum moisture content, but this practice put the project seriously behind schedule because the material took a long period to dewater. A major revision to the original design occurred in placing saturated silt in the core, and in steepening the side slopes in the core to 0.45 to 1 within an elevation of 8 feet above the bedrock, which ultimately saved the placement of 12,000 cubic metres of core material.

At the end of the construction season in 1947, the dam was left with a 5 foot cover of sand over the core to minimize frost penetration. In May of 1948, as soon as the mean temperature rose above freezing, the sand was removed and it was discovered that frost penetrated only 15 inches into the core material.

The 90-mile power line from Snare River to Yellowknife travels across very rocky country, spotted with many lakes of varying sizes. Almost 10 miles of the 91-mile distance is over water. Digging postholes was a major chore, since 99% of the power pole holes were cut in rock. There was also the problem of gauging the correct tension on the three wire transmission line because annual extremes of temperature ranges from 60 degrees F below zero to 90 degrees F above.

Construction of the power plant, presented many problems not usually encountered in small structures of this type. The season during which concrete could be poured, without frost protection, extended only from late May to mid September. Considerable concrete was poured in the periods outside these months, but heating of water and aggregate was required. Heating of forms was accomplished with burning stoves and gasoline Fuelled Herman Nelson "Jeep" heaters. On only one occasion did concrete freeze.

The steel erection crew and their equipment were flown to the job early in April, 1948, and prior to erecting the superstructure were employed in welding and installing the penstock and scroll case.

Handling of the steel members was done by a dragline with a 65-foot boom.

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Assembly of the generator stator frame began June 1948, and the switchgear installation was started a few days later. The roof of the powerhouse was now partially completed, but the tar and felt had not vet been applied, and walls were only started. Despite delays, the bus was energized in September and power was supplied to the Giant Yellowknife Mine October 1, 1948.

Figure 3. Completed Snare Hydro project.

4. Project Legacy At the time of the Snare Hydro development Yellowknife was undergoing a metamorphosis from a primitive, "hell roaring" pioneer settlement to a modern, planned town. Old frame dwellings, and business structures that stood or leaned drunkenly askew for years gave way to up-to-date construction.

Construction of the Snare River power development by the Canadian Department of Mines and Resources was a difficult job made infinitely more difficult by the weather. The permanently frozen soil, permafrost, its surface turned into a sticky, slippery mud by the Arctic sun's intensive rays, was but one of the problems. Transportation of incoming construction and installation equipment presented the supreme obstacle that had to be hurdled months and years before the power could be turned on. Almost $5 million (1949$) was spent on the new plant.

The Snare River hydro system is one of the most northerly hydro electric systems in Canada, and continues to produce electricity at the original plant and 3 new plants, which supply electricity to the communities of Rae- Edzo, N'Dilo, Dettah, and Yellowknife, and to the Giant and Con gold mines.

Downstream sites to the original 1948 facility were developed at Snare Falls in 1961, Snare Forks in 1975, and Snare Cascades in 1996 as electricity demand increased in the region.

5. References Eckenfelder, G, and Russell, B. Snare River Power Project. Engineering Journal, March, 1950.

Plummer, H. The Power Line Comes to Yellowknife. Popular Mechanics, February, 1949.

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Iqaluit, Nunavut - Building Canada’s New Frontier Capital Kenneth Johnson Originally published in the PEGG magazine April 1999 On April 1, 1999 the Nunavut Territory will be created, and with it will come the Territorial Capital of Iqaluit, formerly known as Frobisher Bay. Located at 64 degrees North Latitude, and 2800 kilometres East Northeast of Edmonton, Iqaluit is the smallest of the Territorial Capitals, however, it is the most northerly capital. This new face on the nation is mind boggling to the ordinary Canadian, since it will encompass over 20 percent of Canada’s land mass, and a population of only 27, 000.

Iqaluit has the look of a Frontier with rolling barren terrain on the surface, and the silt, sand, gravel, and boulders encased in permafrost below the surface. Iqaluit also has the weather of a Frontier, with 8 months of the year in which the average air temperature is below freezing, and an average daily temperature in its warmest month of 8 degrees C.

Terrain around Iqaluit

This community of 4500 people enjoys the amenities of piped water and sewer systems, although approximately one third of the community remains on trucked water and sewer systems. The trucked sewer and water systems use insulated tanks typically with storage capacities of 500 to 1000 litres for water tanks, and 750 to 1500 litres for sewage tanks. The tanks are filled on a regular basis with a 4500 litre water truck, and the sewage tanks are emptied with a vacuum truck. The water systems in the houses operate on a pressurized system, and the sewer systems operate on a gravity system.

The piped systems in Iqaluit employ cold region technologies of insulated, shallow buried water and sewer mains, with double walled, insulated steel plate manholes. The water systems also use water circulation, and reheating as further freeze protection. These systems are quite expensive , but are an appropriate technology that has evolved for the permafrost conditions and the extreme temperature in the Frontier Capital.

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Access vault in the foreground with hydrant for access to buried water and sewer system

The water supply for the community is Lake Geraldine, immediately to the west of the community centre, which provides a gravity supply to most of the community as well as the truck fill station. Lake Geraldine is a good water supply requiring nominal filtration and chlorination water treatment.

With this infrastructure, the cost of water in Iqaluit is high, with a cost recovery rate of 1 cent per litre (4.5 cents per Imperial gallon). Residential water users enjoy a subsidized rate of 0.35 cents per litre. This rate in considerably more than the range of 0.08 to 0.25 cents per litre in the Edmonton area.

The piped water and sewer services to the individual houses are insulated copper for the water lines, and insulated high density polyethylene for the sewer. The water services use recirculation and heat tracing as the means to protect the lines from freezing; the recirculation is accomplished using a small pump in each individual house.

The sewer system employs 2 lift stations to collect from several of the seashore areas of the community, in addition to a trunk gravity sewer, which ultimately discharges into a primary treatment sewage lagoon.

Although the sewage treatment meets the current effluent criteria under the Town’s Water Licence , plans are underway to upgrade the system to meet expected secondary treatment criteria of a new water licence.

The buildings in Iqaluit are usually constructed on pile systems with the steel piles extending into bedrock, if possible, or well into the permafrost if the bedrock is too deep. The buildings usually have an open crawl space beneath them to maintain a thermal barrier, and keep the ground beneath the house as cold as possible. This thermal barrier maintains the integrity of the permafrost to minimizes the problems associated with permafrost thaw.

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House on pile foundation system.

Iqaluit is now experiencing a construction boom, as it prepares for the creation of Nunavut. The major construction activity currently underway, or underway in the near future includes:    

a $10 million legislature building in the shape of an igloo; a $7 million Federal office building and a territorial office building to match; a $40 million hospital; and. $10 million in improvements to the community’s water treatment and sewage treatment systems.

These major projects along with other minor projects amount to about $100 million of pubic-sector construction in the community over the next few years.

In 1998 alone, the value of building permits for public and private sector projects totalled approximately $53 million, which more than doubles any previous year of building activity. This amount of activity is astounding, particularly when compared to a community such as St. Albert, which issued approximately $59 million in building permits in 1998, and is a community 10 times the size of Iqaluit.

The $10 million legislature building is the largest project currently underway in the community. This project is somewhat unique because it is being built the by Inuit owned Nunavut Construction Corporation, utilizing a workforce that is approximately 75 percent Inuit.

Nunavut legislature building

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Construction planning to build in the Frontier Capital requires a level of planning beyond what may be considered normal in the southern latitudes. The delivery of material is dependent upon a relatively short period between the end of July and the end of October, when cargo ships have access through the seasonal ice pack for the annual sealift. The sealift is unique to the north, and particularly interesting in Iqaluit because the 12 metre tide and sandy bottom of Koojesse Inlet allows the ocean going ships to literally park on a dry beach while their cargo is unloaded.

The flurry of the sealift activity is matched by a flurry of construction activity to take advantage of the short construction season to complete excavations and exterior construction for buildings. The construction activity associated with buried infrastructure also faces an additional challenge with the presence of permafrost. Excavation into permafrost beyond the 1.5 to 2 metre active layer is approached in the same manner as the excavation of rock, although the gradual thawing of permafrost does assist in the ease of excavating.

The sealift activity over the past several years is another indication of the activity underway to build the Frontier Capital. In 1997, the sealift was estimated to include 9 ship visits, with a cargo weight in excess of 30,000 tonnes. In 1998, with the amount of additional construction going on, the figure was probably closer to 50,000 tonnes. This number includes only dry cargo, and not the fuel to heat the Town, and generate the electrical power.

The present community has come a long way from the airbase that was established in 1942 by the US Strategic Air Command. The activity associated with the US Air Force in Iqaluit remained throughout the 1950's and into the early 1960's with projects such as the DEW line system, and expansion of in-flight refuelling capabilities. The community was also given another boost with the establishment of the community as the regional headquarters for the Eastern Arctic in 1959.

Iqaluit’s new stature should provide a new attention on the Canadian North which has been lacking, except for the interest in the northern Canadian diamond industry (See article entitled Diamonds in the North “Ice” Beneath the Ice by Ken Johnson in the PEGG, September 1998).

The creation of Nunavut, and the expected boom in Iqaluit’s population to match the construction boom, may in fact double the current population in the next five years of Canada’s new Frontier Capital.

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Cryofront – news and views from the far north Project delivery in the far north - then and Now Kenneth Johnson Originally published in Western Canada Water Magazine, 2007 WCW Magazine Article of the Year

A century after what many consider to be the greatest “event” in the far north, the Klondike Gold Rush, it is interesting to reflect on the delivery of projects during that era, and in our so-called modern age.

A Gold Rush era project that is fresh in my mind, is the Yukon Ditch, which was a 3 million dollar (1909 dollars), 115 km, flume, ditch and pipeline project designed to deliver 5,000 miner’s inches of water (3500 litres per second) for hydraulic mining. The following excerpts from a site visit in 1909 by an engineer, indicate the challenges with project delivery at the time.

"The magnitude of the work accomplished by the engineers of the Yukon Gold Co. may be inferred from an enumeration of the tasks completed during the three seasons since the first surveys were finished - a power-plant of 2,000 HP, with 35 miles of main (power)line, 18 miles of branch, and 8 miles of secondary lines; 64 miles of main ditch, flume, and pipe. All this has been done 3,500 miles distant from manufacturing centres, with an inadequate supply of labour. Some of the machinery that arrived had been ordered 18 months previously. During the season of 1907, over 7,000 tons of material was received, and it was inevitable that some of the parts ordered in advance, for immediate operations, should be delayed in delivery despite every effort. A sufficient stock of parts is carried, so as to obviate delays from slowness of transport. Maintenance of a proper commissariat for labourers required some generalship. An effort was made to overcome the uncertain supply of local labour by importing 320 men for British Columbia. Of these, 20 deserted on the way. "

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A century ago project delivery in the far north relied solely on water transportation for the delivery of construction materials. The SS Klondike plied the waters of the Yukon River until the late 1950’s delivering construction materials 800 km downstream to Dawson City. She is now a Parks Canada Historic Site in Whitehorse.

Dawson City and in fact much of the area “north of 60” remains a project delivery challenge. This has been recognized by northern practitioners for over 25 years, and the cycle for project delivery is generally laid out in a 5 year “plan.”

The first year of a project is utilized for project planning. This is a necessary, but often time consuming and expensive step to establish the necessary lines of communication between the various groups involved in the project, and to refine the project needs, and project resources. The time and expenses are due to the isolation of project site, and the cultural differences of the project users. A simple visit to a project site may take a least a day or two of travel each way and cost thousands of dollars.

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In some respects, technology has not changed in 100 years because water transportation is still the only means of the construction material delivery in much of the north, as seen in the delivery of a package water treatment plant to the community of Taloyoak (Spence Bay), Nunavut. (Photo courtesy of BI Pure Water Inc.)

The second year of a project schedule is utilized for preliminary engineering and detailed design. These technical stages of the project may be characterized by the various technical activities with typical "southern" engineering. However, the design criteria include careful consideration of cold temperatures, ice and snow, and how these are influenced by wind, darkness, and isolation.

The third and potentially fourth year of a project is utilized for project construction. Construction of roads, pipelines, reservoirs, and lagoons is limited to a window between June and October. Construction before or after this period is certainly possible, but the cold temperatures often create problems, which may jeopardize the integrity of the project.

Projects in the coastal communities in the far north are faced with the problem that material and equipment supply cannot occur until late July, at the earliest.

This is due to the fact that arctic waters are not free of ice until the mid-summer to allow the annual sealift to occur. Airlifting of materials and equipment is a last resort because it is extremely expensive.

Other projects, particularly in the western arctic, may have access to allweather roads, or winter roads for material and equipment delivery. This allows for delivery during the winter months and for construction to begin as soon as temperatures permit.

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The final year of the project schedule is post construction and warranty. This period of a project is not without its own particular problems, which may result from the ability of the contractor to complete deficiencies once his forces are demobilized, and the general "bugs" which may have to be worked out of a newly completed project.

Some fundamental aspects of project delivery in the far north have not changed in 100 years, although the technology applied in the project delivery has changed dramatically. Gone are the sternwheelers that plied the waters of the Yukon River to deliver construction materials and everything else to Dawson City and points in between. However, delivery by water, or "sealift" remains a fundamental part of the project delivery process in the far north, particularly in Nunavut, where there are no roads providing access to the outside world.

A significant portion of the Yukon Ditch was constructed using ‘steam’ shovels (see steam boiler in photo). These steam shovels were delivered in the vicinity of the project by sternwheelers and transported to the project site by horse drawn sleds (in many pieces of course). (Photo courtesy of Dawson City Museum.)

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Cryofront - News, Views and Muse from the Far North

Water treatment "on the rocks“ in Yellowknife, NWT Ken Johnson Stantec

Figure 3

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Figure 2

Figure 1

Figure captions Figure 1. The Giant Mine, near Yellowknife, ceased operation in 2005, and has left a legacy of 240 thousand tonnes of arsenic trioxide, which will require perpetual care to keep the toxic material contained (See Summer 2014 WCW magazine article entitled “Managing a ‘Giant’ toxic legacy in the North”) .

Figure 2. The water supply for the City of Yellowknife is currently conveyed by an 8 kilometre submarine pipeline from the Yellowknife River to a pumphouse, reservoir, and soon to be commissioned water treatment plant.

Figure 3. The new water treatment plant for the City of Yellowknife is scheduled for commissioning in 2015, and will include a provision for arsenic removal as a precautionary measure.

The history of Yellowknife’s water supply is intrinsically linked to its start as a hard rock mining town. When gold was discovered on the shores of Great Slave Lake, and the claims were staked, Yellowknife was born as gold mining boomtown. The two most longstanding and productive mines, the Con and Giant Mines, immediately adjacent to the townsite, were both closed by 2005, however both mines have left significant contaminant legacies.

The gold extraction process used in Yellowknife required a ‘roasting’ process to extract the gold from arsenopyrite rock. Until the use of pollution control devices in the 1950’s, this process released uncontrolled quantities of arsenic trioxide and sulphur dioxide into the air around the community, which came to rest on the Canadian Shield around Yellowknife , and the water bodies on the shield.

Despite the fact that arsenic concentrations in the water supply were within the limit for human consumption at the time, Yellowknife decided to change water sources from the adjacent Yellowknife Bay to the mouth of the Yellowknife River in the 1960's. By 1969, a new intake pumphouse was completed, and raw water was pumped through an 8 kilometre submarine pipeline to the townsite, which is still used today.

For many years the Yellowknife River water supply was considered to be a high quality pristine potable water supply requiring only chlorination as water treatment. However, with the new multiple barrier approach to safe drinking water, and increasingly stringent water quality criteria, even the pristine waters of the Yellowknife River demanded an increased level of treatment.

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In the 70 years of water supply in the City of Yellowknife, there has been no reported biological contamination in the water supply. The only two events of concern have been the arsenic detection in the 1970’s, and excessive turbidities in the Yellowknife River water during the spring of 2004. The persistence of arsenic in the water, and the probability of another high turbidity event were taken into consideration for the water treatment process selection.

In 2005, the City completed a pilot scale exercise to test different treatment processes on the potential Yellowknife water supplies of Yellowknife River and Yellowknife Bay. The advantage of a Yellowknife Bay water supply would be the decommissioning of the aging submarine pipeline from the Yellowknife River.

Membrane filtration, and direct filtration pilot tests were run on both sources, and based upon pilot testing results, a decision was made to advance a membrane process. The selection and pre-approval of a membrane plant manufacturer prior to the completion of the final design and tendering of the project was completed in 2012, and PALL Canada was chosen as the successful candidate (sourced through DWG Process Supply Ltd).

Given the possibility of changing the raw water source to Yellowknife Bay, the PALL treatment system would include an arsenic treatment system. It was noted that arsenic removal is not be being put in because the arsenic is high in the potential Yellowknife Bay source water, but rather as a precautionary measure.

Arsenic sampling has been ongoing at Yellowknife Bay since 1996, and the arsenic concentrations were all less that 5 parts per billion, with the exception of one sample at 6.5 ppb.

The arsenic in the water of Yellowknife Bay and the Yellowknife River is low, so the City's selection of either source would be acceptable.

Yellowknife Bay has the potential risk of arsenic in the water, which originates from two sources. The first source would be from arsenic "remobilization" from the sediments of the bay. The sediments in the bay contain considerable amounts of arsenic, however the arsenic in the sediments is considered stable, and the low concentrations measured in water from the bay over the past 20 years support this position.

The second arsenic source would be Giant Mine, which has tailings ponds with arsenic concentrations of 20,000 ppb. If a tailings pond breach occurred, water would be discharged into a creek and ultimately into Back Bay, however

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dilution would reduce the concentrations to about 100 ppb near the potential site of the raw water intake.

The rationale behind the potential water source change is that the eightkilometre-long submarine pipeline used to bring water to the City from the Yellowknife River intake is reaching the end of its design life, and the underwater pipeline is undersized for future capacity. If the water source remains the same, the pipeline, which has been in place since 1968, needs to be replaced by 2020 for a cost of over $10 million.

Site work on the new plant began in 2011, on the shore of Great Slave Lake, with construction of an access road to the site within the Tin Can Hill parcel. The site already has a 9 million litre water storage reservoir, which was most recently expanded in 2007.

The detailed design process was completed in May of 2013 and the tenders closed on in July, 2013 with award approved by Yellowknife City Council at the end of July. North American Construction was awarded the project for a total cost of $30 million, and the project is expected to be completed in 2015. The risks associated with arsenic in the water supply have been thoroughly considered by the City of Yellowknife, and the precautionary treatment system will provide the City with a flexibility to operate the system with several raw water sources, and provide the residents with the high quality water that the community is known for.

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Protecting Our Water – 60 Years of Service 60th Annual WCWWA Conference and Trade Show September 23 – 26, 2008 Delta Regina Hotel Regina, Saskatchewan

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE PAST 60 YEARS OF NORTHERN WATER AND WASTE Ken Johnson Earth Tech Canada ABSTRACT Over the course of the past sixty years water supply and waste treatment in Canada has changed dramatically, however the most dramatic changes have occurred in the northern regions of Canada. Sixty years ago much of northern Canada, particularly the smaller communities, were still based upon a subsistence economy and not a wage economy, therefore the infrastructure for water and sewer was essentially non existent. A select few communities, such as Dawson City, Yukon and Yellowknife, NWT had infrastructure in place as a result of the mining boom in each of these communities.

The water and waste practices in the early days of small northern communities were very simple. Water was brought in by hand, from the nearest water source, "outhouses" were used for sewage waste, grey water was dumped adjacent to the houses, and garbage was burned in individual barrels near each household. One of the most significant infrastructure milestones in decade following World War 2 was the development of the community of Inuvik and its above ground piped water and sewer system, which was initiated by the chronic flooding and limited capacity of the nearby community of Aklavik. In 1957, John Diefenbaker's once-famous "northern vision" policy inspired the nation, and advanced further initiatives in northern infrastructure.

Water and waste infrastructure in northern communities continued to make incremental improvements in the 1960's and 1970's as the subsistence lifestyles continued to decline, and more people moved to permanent settlements. Water and sewer tanks were becoming more common, along with indoor plumbing, but these were still limited, and there remained a significant need for engineered water supply and wastewater disposal systems. One of the most significant policy decisions concerning water supply infrastructure occurred in the mid-1980's with the recognition that intestinal disease could be correlated to water use. As a result, a policy was put in place that water supply infrastructure would be required to deliver a minimum of 90 L/c/d in each individual in a community. This policy initiated a concerted effort to provide indoor plumbing to each household, and phased out the use of honey bags for sewage disposal.

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Protecting Our Water – 60 Years of Service 60th Annual WCWWA Conference and Trade Show September 23 – 26, 2008 Delta Regina Hotel Regina, Saskatchewan

The turn of the 20th century in the north has brought regulatory demands into the forefront of community infrastructure, for the better and worse of northern communities.

Continuing incremental improvements in water and waste infrastructure as a result of regulatory demands have benefited communities. On the other hand, regulatory scrutiny has placed many communities in positions where they have neither the financial nor human resources to address the regulatory demands.

BEFORE 1948 Northern Canada has remained first and foremost the homeland for aboriginal peoples and a pristine environment. Attachment to the land and dependence on local resources for physical and spiritual sustenance are deeply rooted characteristics of the aboriginal cultural heritage. Each of the aboriginal groups identifies with a traditional territory, shaped by thousands of years of continuous occupation.

The land mass itself is immense, covering almost 45% of Canada's land mass that stretches 4500 kilometres along the 60th parallel and 2800 kilometres north from the 60th parallel to the edge of the Ellesmere Island, which is just 800 kilometres south of the north pole.

Until the 1800's and into the early the 1900's, the economy was based solely on traditional activities of a nomadic lifestyle following an annual cycle set by the weather and the wildlife. This subsistence economy began to shift with the advent of whaling activities in the eastern Arctic, and the expansion of the fur trade into the North, making cash and trade goods important commodities for the aboriginal population. The shift continued with the establishment of permanent communities first by traders, and then missionaries; ultimately government institutions established a presence in the communities.

In the mid 1940's the citizens of Yellowknife and Aklavik installed surface water distribution systems to supply water to their houses during the summer. This was luxury for them, for the rest of the year they had to haul or carry water to their homes, and for rest of the communities of the Northwest Territories even summer only piped water system was a "pipe dream". In most of the communities, the people threw waste water on the ground near their doorway, and discarded toilet water and garbage a distance away to be disposed of by gull, raven and scavenging dogs. In a few larger communities toilet waste and garbage were hauled to isolated places nearby. Such were water, sewage and garbage serving in the Northwest Territories 60 years ago (from the Changing North by Jack Grainge, 1999).

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Protecting Our Water – 60 Years of Service 60th Annual WCWWA Conference and Trade Show September 23 – 26, 2008 Delta Regina Hotel Regina, Saskatchewan

DAWSON CITY INFRASTRUCTURE One community was the exception to the rule regarding modern water and sewer infrastructure. Dawson City, Yukon was the largest city west of Winnipeg at the turn of the 19th century, and in spite of its extreme isolation had many amenities, including a piped water and sewer system. The engineering and construction resources for this infrastructure may be attributed to the placer mining resources in the community at the time. Dawson was in fact building extraordinary hydraulic projects as the need for water was driven by the placer mining activity.

The date of construction of the first components of the Dawson City water and sewer system is not known precisely, however, it has been recorded that Dawson had a water and sewer system in operation as early as 1904. A description of the system operation in 1911 states that "only three or four houses in Dawson were equipped with year-round running water. To prevent their freezing in winter, the water pipes had to be linked to parallel pipes of live steam which must be kept constantly hot. In addition, the water must be kept moving through the pipes continually and thence through an insulated outlet all the way to the river." The original pipe installations were wood stave construction, and this piping continued to be used until the 1970's (see Figure 1).

Figure 1: Wood Stave Piping Replacement in Dawson City Yukon (Circa 1970) INUVIK INFRASTRUCTURE One of the most significant infrastructure milestones in decade following World War 2 was the development of the community of Inuvik and its above ground piped water and sewer system, which was initiated by the chronic flooding and limited capacity of the nearby community of Aklavik. In 1957, John Diefenbaker's once-famous "northern vision" policy inspired the nation, and advanced further initiatives in northern infrastructure.

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Protecting Our Water – 60 Years of Service 60th Annual WCWWA Conference and Trade Show September 23 – 26, 2008 Delta Regina Hotel Regina, Saskatchewan

In 1953, federal government survey teams fanned out across the Mackenzie Delta looking for a new spot on which to build the settlement that would replace Aklavik. They narrowed the choice to six on the east side and six on the west side of the delta. In November 1954 they picked East Three on the East Channel of the Mackenzie Delta, about 120 kilometres south of the Arctic Ocean. The large, flat area had a navigable waterway, room for expansion and wasn't subject to flooding each spring.

Construction of Inuvik began in 1955 and federal officials expected the town to be built by 1961 or 1962. It was the first time in Canada that a community would be built from scratch, giving new meaning to the term "government town."

Building on permafrost proved to challenge engineers and architects. They expected to find a metre of permafrost, but discovered that Inuvik sits on 350 metres of ground that is frozen year round. To prevent heat from warm buildings thawing the permafrost and causing them to sink, most structures sit on pilings drilled five metres into the ground with about half to one metre of space between the ground and the bottom of the building.

Inuvik's utilidor was originally constructed in one single enclosed conduit supported on wood piles; the utilidor included a dedicated pipe carrying high temperature hot water for buildings and freeze protection of the water and sewer mains (see Figure 2).

Figure 2: Inuvik Utilidor System (Circa 1960)

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Protecting Our Water – 60 Years of Service 60th Annual WCWWA Conference and Trade Show September 23 – 26, 2008 Delta Regina Hotel Regina, Saskatchewan

INCREMENTAL IMPROVEMENTS The water and waste practices in the early days of small northern communities were very simple. Water was brought in by hand, from the nearest water source, "outhouses" were used for sewage waste, grey water was dumped adjacent to the houses, and garbage was burned in individual barrels near each household. Water supply advanced to the use of summer water points during the warmer months instead of bringing water by hand from a lake or stream (see Figure 3).

Figure 3: Summer Water Point In Rae Lakes, NWT Water and waste infrastructure in northern communities continued to make incremental improvements in the 1960's and 1970's as the subsistence lifestyles continued to decline, and more people moved to permanent settlements. Water and sewer tanks were becoming more common, along with indoor plumbing, but these were still limited.

Newer homes were equipped with wastewater holding tanks located on or beneath the floor of the house into which drained household waste from kitchen sinks, laundry, bathroom and toilets would drain by gravity. These tanks were normally larger than the water storage tanks, with a minimum tank size of 1200 litres..

Trucked delivery for water and sewer was the standard level of service in all but a few communities. A handful of larger communities started to develop piped systems, and this started the process of advancing water and sewer technology specific to cold region conditions with the application of shallow bury, insulated pipes and recirculating water systems (see Figure 4).

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Protecting Our Water – 60 Years of Service 60th Annual WCWWA Conference and Trade Show September 23 – 26, 2008 Delta Regina Hotel Regina, Saskatchewan

Figure 4: Insulated Water and Sewer System in Rankin Inlet, Nunuvut (Circa 1980) One of the most significant policy decisions concerning water supply infrastructure occurred in the mid-1980's with the recognition that intestinal disease could be correlated to water use. As a result, a policy was put in place that water supply infrastructure would be required to deliver a minimum of 90 L/c/d in each individual in a community. This policy initiated a concerted effort to provide indoor plumbing to each household, and phased out the use of honey bags for sewage disposal. Keeping up with the ever increasing water demand were engineered water supply and sewage treatment facilities.

Water is an abundant resource in the north except for the fact it may remain frozen for over 6 months of the year. Access to a year round supply of water was a significant problem across the north which engineers solved by building large reservoirs with enough depth so the water would not completely freeze, and enough volume to accommodate what could be a nearly 2 metres of ice on the surface. The reservoirs were constructed of earth and lined with impermeable materials. Pumping systems adjacent to the reservoir fed truck fill points for distribution to the residents; chlorination equipment was provided as part of the truck fill station infrastructure.

Sewage treatment and disposal followed suite with water supply, and sewage lagoons became the technology of choice because of low cost and ease of operation and maintenance. The application of mechanical sewage was very limited, and in fact the only one community, namely, Carmacks, Yukon had a mechanical treatment system until the 1990's.

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Protecting Our Water – 60 Years of Service 60th Annual WCWWA Conference and Trade Show September 23 – 26, 2008 Delta Regina Hotel Regina, Saskatchewan

THE FUTURE OF NORTHERN WATER AND SEWER The turn of the 20th century in the north has brought regulatory demands into the forefront of community infrastructure, for the better and worse of northern communities.

Continuing incremental improvements in water and waste infrastructure as a result of regulatory demands have benefited communities. On the other hand, regulatory scrutiny has placed many communities in positions where they have neither the financial nor human resources to address the regulatory demands.

Mechanical systems are becoming more common for water treatment, as senior governments work to meet national guidelines for drinking water quality. The continuing success of mechanical systems, particularly in small communities remains a function of the technical assistance provided by the senior levels of government. Small communities have limited financial and human resources for the operation and maintenance of complex water treatment systems.

Lagoon systems remain the most common form of sewage treatment, in spite of demands for more sophisticated technologies. Improving upon the performance of lagoons is occurring with the application of wetlands for tertiary treatment.

The key elements with the future of northern water and sewer are "appropriate technology", applied in a "northern context", and scheduled in an "incremental" timeframe.

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Cold Region Technology: The Future

by Ken Johnson, M.A.Sc., P.Eng. Planner and Engineer Originally composed in October 1999, and published in the Canadian Civil Engineer The influence of technology on the Cold Region of Canada, particularly for its residents, has been profound over the past century. Although on a geographical scale these influences seem somewhat trite or trivial given the immense size of the region, which is almost 80 percent of Canada’s land mass, which includes the northern territories and the northern reaches of many of the provinces.

On a national scale the North remains a somewhat nebulous portion of the country where on a personal level adventurers go, or foolhardy southerners find a home. The creation of Nunavut in 1999 has certainly brought a better political awareness of at least a portion of the vast region.

However, there remains a deliberate reluctance to sustain a visibility of the entire region.

A simple yet good example is the weather, where very few weather maps show all of the three territorial capitals, and favour the southern United States instead.

This visibility is changing and will change as the application of cold region technology makes resource development economically viable, and environmentally responsible. Diamonds, and natural gas are the resources of current interest in the region, and have created a “rush” that in some ways echoes the same period of a century ago.

The echo of this particular “rush” may be expected to resound for many decades, and will provide a legacy to the people of the North, which has been sadly absent from the activity of the past. This may if fact be the most significant aspect of the future of cold region technology, in that it provides a transfer of knowledge to the peoples of the North, rather than just providing a service for a fee.

Resource development remains the classic definition of extracting raw materials for ultimate consumption elsewhere. The primary elements associated with resource development in the North will be the living and working spaces for the human and machine inputs, and the infrastructure in support of these spaces. This has historically been the most neglected initial aspect of working in the North, and significant catch-up efforts have been made in the past 15 years, particularly in permanent communities.

Infrastructure is a term which applies to all of the systems that may support human activity.

Infrastructure includes water, sewer, roads, drainage, solid waste, power and communication, as well as water, air, and highway transportation systems. All of these systems take on a significant importance in a northern context because the absence or interruption in any particular item may in some cases may be a matter of life and death, as opposed to an inconvenience in a southern context.

The more traditional infrastructure of water, sewer, roads, and drainage, which may be referred to as "community infrastructure" has made, and will continue to make steady improvements in the future through the direct influence of cold region technology. These improvements will create the proverbial "level playing field" for permanent communities, but in a northern context, and through the application of appropriate technology.

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These community infrastructure components are taken for granted in the southern context, but in the North the use of buckets for hauling fresh water, and plastic bags for sewage are still a recent memory for many residents, particularly those living in smaller communities. The most important benefit associated with the availability of pressurized water systems has been improved public health, through increased water use.

Key principles in the future of cold region technology are "northern context", "appropriate technology" and “incremental improvement�. The capital costs and sustainability for infrastructure systems becomes prohibitive if these principles are not applied in each and every step of the design and implementation process.

Many lessons have been learned, and at great expense through the incorrect or incomplete application of these principles in the past. Unfortunately the memory of past lessons has suffered from a lapse in the North, and therefore the future of cold region technology will include a sustained, and accessible technical knowledge base maintained outside of individuals or corporations.

This will not diminish the need for technical practitioners of cold region technology, but rather enhance the application of the technology. This activity is currently in its infancy through the magic of the internet.

Although community infrastructure has made important strides, and will continue to make important strides through the application of cold region technology, it is communication and air, water, and highway transportation systems that will dominate the activity in the future. The importance of transportation systems for the future has already been recognized by the Department of Transportation of the Government of the Northwest Territory, which spent $2 million in 1998 and 1999 on highway feasibility related studies for access throughout the Northwest Territory, and into the Nunavut Territory.

The costs associated with northern highways are staggering in the hundreds of millions of dollars, and the economists suggest that the level of activity in the north is not sufficient to support these projects within the next decade. Although these economic recommendations are a valuable tool in decision making, outside factors such as the demand for oil and gas may make these recommendations completely irrelevant in the coming years.

Air transportation is the only year round system available to much of the North. Scheduled air service is now available to all communities in the north, although this service still remains at the mercy of the northern weather. Considering that jet service to some of the larger centres of the North did not become a common occurrence until the early 1990’s, the current state of the service is a significant step forward.

Air service in the future may not see the profound changes as it has in the past. The costs of providing jet service to each and every community are prohibitive with regard to capital costs and operating costs.

Marine transportation is a seasonal operation and the "life blood" for major community activity, and construction of large projects in many places. Marine transportation, like air transportation, may not

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see profound changes in the future as a result of technology, but may see changes as the result of changes in the natural environment. The restricting ice pack of the North has undergone tremendous change in the past 50 years, and in some documented cases is now half of the thickness it was 50 years ago. Whether the cause of this is climate change, or some other natural phenomenon, the potential impacts on the operating season of marine transportation in the North will be significant in the future.

Communications systems will have the most significant impact on cold region technology in the future. Satellite communication has essentially removed the isolation of most communities. The future application of this communication will facilitate communication amongst other cold region practitioners, technology users, and residents on a global scale.

The environment will take on a renewed importance in the future of cold region engineering. A renewal is the correct phrase to apply since the aboriginals of the North have sustained themselves for centuries using "traditional environmental knowledge" (TEK). Elements of this TEK are now being sought and applied to new resource developments. The sensitivity of the northern environment in combination with the application of appropriate technology will hasten this renewal and redefinition of TEK. The influence of climate change in relation to the environment will also play a significant role in the future of cold region technology. Design standards for a number of projects are already in a period of change taking into consideration the potential long term warming of the North, and the environmental risk associated with the projects.

The aboriginals of the North have sustained themselves for centuries using "traditional technical knowledge", the most commonly known of these technologies being the kayak and the igloo.

Although by standard western definitions these technologies may be considered rather simple, they are in fact appropriate technology for transportation and community dwellings, and suggest an impressive potential for ingenuity.

The base of practitioners of cold region technology in the future will shift from the non-aboriginal community to the aboriginal community. This transition is in its early stages as evident with the aboriginal partnerships that have already formed with non-aboriginal technical corporations. Much of this has been politically motivated, however some of it has evolved out of the recognition that it makes good business sense for the future. Those companies that choose to maintain the colonial approach to business in the North are inevitably doomed to failure in the future.

The road to establishing a large base of aboriginal cold region technology practitioners will be long.

This suggestion is a simple function of the competition for individuals and the cross cultural limitations of cold region technology. Modern technology is still being defined within the aboriginal context, particularly within its language development.

The future of cold region technology will be an exciting opportunity for the people of the North, and for the people of the south who have the patience and willingness to operate in this evolving frontier.

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The Cold and the Old – 35 Years of Design in the Far North Kenneth Johnson Most adults, with the exception of the Dr. Sheldon Cooper, do not have a catch phrase such as “bazinga.” By chance I had one presented to me several years ago. A colleague and I were discussing my work in the far north, and my interest in northern history, and he blurted out the phrase “the cold and the old.” It neatly sums up my personal and professional interests.

My first trip to the Canadian Arctic was in the fall of 1980, as part of an undergraduate engineering course at the University of British Columbia (UBC). The destination was the aboriginal community of Lower Post near Watson Lake, Yukon, and our project was to develop housing and infrastructure alternatives for the community. What I saw there shaped my view of northern infrastructure.

The state of the housing in the community was poor. The ceiling in one of the homes we visited was on the verge of collapse due to rot from inadequate vapour barriers. There were some new homes in Lower Post—bright, roomy, log cabins with high ceilings. But no one was living in them.

It took me almost a decade to understand and explain this situation.

Meanwhile, we submitted our report and passed the course. The following spring, our findings were presented to a group of residents from Lower Post who came down to UBC. After graduation in May of ’81, I began my career as a “southern” engineer, with no expectations at the time of returning to the North.

Six years later, life steered me north again. In 1987 I took a permanent position with the Government of the Northwest Territories in Yellowknife. With a graduate degree in environmental engineering acquired a few years after my undergrad degree, my education was a good fit with the water and sanitation mandates of my new job.

Once again, work in the North was eye-opening. I began to answer my years-old questions from Lower Post.

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The engineering conditions for water and sanitation engineering "North of 60" present unique and extreme design challenges. What ground is not gripped by permafrost will experience frost that penetrates at least three metres into the earth over the course of the winter. Material supply and delivery is very often controlled by the opportunity window of either an ice road or sealift, depending upon the location of the project. Construction is also controlled by the very short opportunity window called summer (June through September).

But for decades, “southern” engineers had been delivering designs to northern communities similar to what worked in the warmer parts of the country. By ignoring the unique character of the North, they were compromising the success of their projects.

One of the legendary failures in wastewater management in northern communities was macerator stations (large grinding facilities) for bagged sewage. Prior to the 1980s Northern communities commonly collected sewage in bags that were taken to the dump. Since plastic bags generally do not decompose, a messy sewage problem was developing. Macerator plants were supposed to grind up these bags and allow the sewage to decompose outside the bags.

Macerators are often used to grind sewage in “southern” Canada. But the sewage is not bagged like it is in the north. After six macerators were built across the Northwest Territories, a problem was discovered. The bags were considerably stronger than the shredding mechanism in the macerators. The macerators continually jammed, making the process completely ineffective. Needless to say, the initiative came to a “grinding” halt.

Oversights like these are why no one lived in the new houses in Lower Post. I never found out specifically why no one was living in the new houses. It could have been a dozen different things, all variations on the theme of an “off the shelf” attempt at solving a northern design problem with decision-making that originated in Ottawa.

The silver lining to all of these challenges is that many hard lessons have been learned. Northern engineers, for the most part, now understand the challenges with the North and how to overcome them.

The cold and the old work hand-in-hand, with the “old” providing the lessons so that designing to accommodate the “cold” can be done much better.

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