The Canol Pipeline: A Cold Region Project with No Future

The Canol Pipeline: A Cold Region Project with No Future Ken Johnson Originally published in the proceedings of the 1996 CSCE Annual Conference 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 refined and piped to points along the Alaska Highway. The Canol Project was engineered, designed, constructed and operated by civilian contractors, employing both American and Canadian workers.

The pipeline project was conceived and executed with very little understanding of northern design and construction conditions, however it is still one of the largest projects ever undertaken in northern Canada. Between the time construction began in October 1942 until the Whitehorse refinery commenced operations on April 30, 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 constructed at an estimated total project cost of 135 million in 1942/43 dollars.

All that remains of the project today are abandoned camps, pipeline sections and pump stations, which are a legacy of the 35 month period during which the Canol project was conceived, constructed, operated and abandoned. The Canol pipeline project was a major event in Canadian cold region engineering history.

BACKGROUND The Canadian Oil (Canol) pipeline project was conceived in the early days of the Second World War when the Allied forces were losing the war. Between December 7, 1941, when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbour, and the end of April 1942, when Canol was authorized, Guam, Singapore, Java, and Bataan were all lost to the Japanese Imperial Army. Many oil tankers were being sunk and the U.S. Navy could no longer guarantee the safety of these vessels in the Pacific Ocean. The Aleutian Islands were also threatened and were later invaded, which was a concern for the aircraft which had to be ferried to Alaska for defense and to Russia for lend-lease purposes.

A route was selected for the Alaska Highway as a link between landing strips for aircraft ferrying, and military planners began to look for an energy source to complement the highway.

Crude oil sources in Edmonton, and southern Alaska were discussed, however attention soon focused on the available 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. INITIATION OF EVENTS American military planners invited two representatives of Imperial Oil Ltd. to meet with them in late April, 1942 in order to obtain some specifics on Norman Wells. Three generals, a representative of the American Board of Economic Warfare, and the dean of the engineering school at the University of Kentucky attended the meeting. As a result of this meeting a one-page memo was drafted advising Army Corp of Engineers to construct a 100 mm crude oil pipeline from Norman Wells, Northwest Territories to Whitehorse, Yukon and place a refinery into operation at Whitehorse to provide fuel for truck and air traffic on the Alaska Highway.

This concept was considered feasible because the crude oil from Norman Wells was a wax base and would flow at extremely low temperatures. The pipeline and refinery were anticipated to be operating in five months.

Imperial Oil signed a contract in May, 1942 to drill at least nine new wells, operate them, and construct additional storage tanks. A contract was also signed with a consortium of three construction companies to build the pipeline and refinery by December 31, 1942. The firms were the W.A. Bechtel Company, the H.C. Price Company, and the W.E. Callahan Construction Company (B-P-C).

The Canadian House of Commons was informed of the Canol project and just prior to the contract signing, the War Committee of the Canadian Cabinet approved the project and granted permission to proceed.

Canol, as the project evolved to in August 1942, 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 lines ran from Whitehorse southeast to Watson Lake, northwest on the Alaska Highway to Fairbanks, Alaska, and south to Skagway, Alaska at tidewater.

ROUTE LOCATION The distribution routes of the Canol project would follow the newly completed transportation corridor of the Alaska Highway, and the long existing 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.

Norman Wells, Northwest Territories and Whitehorse, Yukon are separated by a feature known as the MacKenzie Mountains, which is a divide separating the watersheds of the Yukon River and the MacKenzie Rivers. Only a few trappers, natives and gold-seekers had ever traversed the Yukon-Mackenzie River divide, and no airplanes had ever flown over the divide.

An experienced Canadian land surveyor was hired by B-P-C to identify the pipeline route. In June 1942 interviews with Fort Norman first nation indicated that a native trail through the Mackenzie Mountains might be preferred route.

In late October 1942, the company surveyor set out with a crew of 6 men and 25 sled dogs along the native trail. The route traversed by this team along the trail was the route eventually followed by the pipeline. In November 1942, the survey party passed through 1,500 metre MacMillan pass, crossing over the divide into the Yukon.

Reconnaissance surveys by tractor train set out from Norman Wells in December 1942 and in March 1943. The difficulties of the reconnaissance survey included diesel fuel which froze to the consistency of vaseline, and light engine oil which froze as hard as grease. Engines were kept running twenty-four hours a day because to allow an engine to stop once meant stopping it for good.

These ground reconnaissance surveys established the general route of the pipeline. However, a number of alternatives were considered before the route was finalized only months before the joining of the rights-of-way in the Mackenzie Mountains. Maps and aerial photographic coverage of much of the area were not completed until after the project was operational.

CONSTRUCTION Mobilization The Canol project was faced with the task of building its own transportation system into the Northwest Territories to build the crude oil pipeline from Norman Wells to Whitehorse since nothing of significance existed. Mobilization of equipment for the project was initially to be undertaken solely by the United States military, however it quickly became evident that the minimum of 45,000 metric tons of equipment required to mobilize was well beyond their capability. B-P-C soon became involved in the equipment mobilization as well as other groups familiar with northern transportation.

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, 2,500 military men were activated and by early June 1942, men and equipment began to arrive at the end of rail in Waterways, Alberta.

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.

Freeze up of the river systems preempted the complete mobilization by river in 1942 and a second phase of mobilization began by winter road from Peace River, Alberta. The winter freighting route from Peace River to Norman Wells during the winter of 1942/43 successfully mobilized 8,000 metric tons of equipment, in addition to the 50 to 60 thousand metric tons barged down the MacKenzie.

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

Equipment was also mobilized into Alaska via the Yukon River, the Alaska Railway, and the Richardson Highway.

Another significant part of the continuing mobilization were the airfields built up the MacKenzie Valley. Ten airfields were built between Edmonton and Norman Wells before freezeup in 1942 to accommodate continuous communication and the movement of manpower.

Road Construction 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, which began in January 1943. 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 which would eventually cross the 1,524 metre MacMillan Pass.

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 problem was that the engineers were not familiar with permafrost and how to deal with it.

For example, a few miles inland from the Mackenzie River, the roadway cut through a spruce forest. The construction crews were directed to head cross-country, and as a result saw their trucks and bulldozers sink into the thawed material. Eventually it was discovered that ripping the surface was the wrong way to build a pipeline right-of-way in the far north, and it was better to insulate the ground with granular material or trees.

During the road construction it was impossible from surface inspection to determine the subsurface conditions. In numerous cases alignment relocations were necessary to by-pass unstable ground not apparent at the time of location, or which developed once the ground was exposed to warmer temperatures.

In addition to the construction of road, 65 pile driven bridges were constructed with local wood materials. Eight hundred and twenty culverts, with sizes ranging from 450 mm to 1500 mm were also required. Road construction required between 160,000 to 200,000 cubic metres of borrow material for surfacing and filling.

The military were initially responsible for the construction of the western half of the road from Norman Wells to Whitehorse, while B-P-C were responsible for the eastern half of the road.

However, the military construction crews were eventually recalled for other duties, and the entire road was completed by B-P-C. The road construction crews from the east and west met in December 1943.

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

The 100 mm crude oil supply line form Norman Wells to Whitehorse was 925 km long. The 75 mm distribution line from Whitehorse to Fairbanks was 960 km long. The 100 mm secondary supply line and distribution from Skagway, through Carcross and onto Whitehorse was 175 km long, and a 50 mm distribution line from Carcross to Watson Lake was 425 km long.

Each of the section 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. A crew of one head operator and three operators was necessary to operate each station.

The 10 pumping stations between Norman Wells and Whitehorse used crude oil to operate 3 diesel engines for power. The pipeline system also included 10 tank farms in the system, with storage for 100 million litres in Whitehorse alone.

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.

The eastern part of the pipeline was completed during the winter and the two pipe-laying crews, working from opposite ends of the crude oil pipeline route met on February 16, 1944.

Telephone Line Construction An independent telephone communication system was constructed between Norman Wells and Whitehorse in addition to the telephone system along the Alaska Highway. Telephone line construction began at Camp Canol in July 1943, and the line was in place eight months later.

The telephone line construction was labour intensive and tractors were only used occasionally.

Pole erection was completed by hand and movement of poles from the road to erection sites was completed by horses. The excavation of holes was mainly done by hand, using shovels or dynamite in the permafrost areas. A typical blast hole in the permafrost could be six feet in diameter and three feet deep.

The telephone system was the full length of the crude oil pipeline, with six repeater stations between Norman wells and Whitehorse. Each station employed three repeater men and two line men.

Environmental Considerations The objective of the Canol project was simply to get the job done as quickly as possible, therefore little regard was given for environmental concerns. The fast track construction of the pipeline contributed significantly to repeated breaks which occurred after start-up, and as a result, in the first nine months of operation, approximately 7 million litres of crude oil were spilled along the length of the pipeline. A 12.7 million litre storage tank on the banks of the Mackenzie River also burst while two-thirds full, sending most of its contents into the water.

OPERATION Oil was pumped through the crude oil pipeline for a total of 16 months from December 19, 1943 to April 1, 1945. Although oil entered the pipe at Camp Canol in December 1943, it did not reach Whitehorse until April 16, 1944. 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. Eleven months after the oil first reached Whitehorse, on March 8, 1945, the U.S. Army issued an order to stop putting oil in the line since the project was to be terminated.

During this period Whitehorse refinery processed 156 million litres of crude oil from Norman Wells. Of that amount, 36 million litres was refined into fuel oil to operate the refinery. The most desperately needed type of refined product was aviation gasoline, but because of mechanical difficulties, only 3.2 million litres of aviation fuel were produced. The refinery produced 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).

From the oil production aspect, 61 oil wells went into production in Norman Wells during the construction and operating period.

ABANDONMENT AND SALVAGE 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.

In 1947, Imperial Oil acquired the salvage rights to the project for less than $1,000,000.

Imperial Oil Ltd. also acquired title to the assets of the United States Government at Norman Wells for $3,000,000 (1945 dollars) in September 1945. Salvage companies removed brass valves, power units, motors, and pipe from the project.

Abandonment was completed prior to spring breakup in order to avoid the delay and maintenance costs associated with keeping the road open during and after spring thaw. With the abandonment of the project in 1945, road blocks were established to restrict access to the Canol Road.

The distribution lines to Fairbanks and Skagway were operated after the war, as well as the tank farms in Whitehorse, Skagway and Norman Wells. However, the line to Watson Lake and the refinery closed down at the same time as the crude oil pipeline. The refinery, which cost $24 million to ship from Texas, was sold to Imperial Oil as part of the $1 million salvage operation, and it was moved to Edmonton, Alberta.

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 LEGACY No attempt was made to completely rehabilitate any of the disturbances created by the Canol project. Although a number of pipe sections still remain, most of the line is gone, however vehicle dumps, barrel caches and camps remain, despite the numerous official and unofficial salvages that have been carried out since 1945.

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.

References: B. Down, L. Kershaw, B. Kershaw, B. Peart.

Summary. May, 1985.

R. Finnie.

Canol Heritage Trail Concept Plan

Canol. Prepared for Bechtel-Price-Callahan. 1945

P. Fradkin. The First and Forgotten Pipeline. No date.

G. Kershaw, L. Kershaw. A National Historic Resource, the Canol Project, NWT. Prepared for the Government of the Northwest Territories. June, 1982.