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[Kniwt]

The CBC reports:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/inuvik-tuktoyaktuk-highway-1.3526669

Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk are now connected by an all-weather road.

The two sides of the N.W.T.'s Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk Highway met on Thursday, as construction crews poured the last bit of gravel to fill the gap.

... There's still a lot of work to be done on the highway before it's operational. The road, which extends the Dempster Highway, is not scheduled to open until fall 2017.

[kkt]

The CBC reports:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/inuvik-tuktoyaktuk-highway-1.3526669

Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk are now connected by an all-weather road.

The two sides of the N.W.T.'s Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk Highway met on Thursday, as construction crews poured the last bit of gravel to fill the gap.

... There's still a lot of work to be done on the highway before it's operational. The road, which extends the Dempster Highway, is not scheduled to open until fall 2017.

Wow, road trip next fall!

[SignGeek101]

I'd drive it. Won't be able to for a while yet, so they can take their time finishing it.

[CtrlAltDel]

What do they still have to do that it's going to take another year for the road to open?

[Rothman]

Incredible!

[cbeach40]

What do they still have to do that it's going to take another year for the road to open?

Not sure, but I'd imagine their winter shutdown is lengthy!

[vdeane]

What do they still have to do that it's going to take another year for the road to open?

Not sure, but I'd imagine their winter shutdown is lengthy!

I remember reading that it's actually a SUMMER shutdown because winter is the only time of the year where the ground is hard enough for heavy construction equipment.

[oscar]

What do they still have to do that it's going to take another year for the road to open?

Not sure, but I'd imagine their winter shutdown is lengthy!

I remember reading that it's actually a SUMMER shutdown because winter is the only time of the year where the ground is hard enough for heavy construction equipment.

Now that the roadbed has been built, if it's solid enough to support equipment, the summer shutdown may no longer be necessary. OTOH, it may now be unnecessary, and overly costly, to work in the cold, dark winter, so we might have a winter shutdown or slowdown.

In any case, I don't know what's left to be done, though it might include a finish layer of gravel to provide motorists a smoother driving surface.

[empirestate]

I wonder if the road, once laid down, has to go through a seasonal freeze-thaw cycle in order to stabilize, or something?

(Just pulling that out of nowhere…)


iPhone

[oscar]

I wonder if the road, once laid down, has to go through a seasonal freeze-thaw cycle in order to stabilize, or something?

My guess is that it'd require such stabilization only if pavement were going to be laid down. I recall that the planned reroute of the southern end of the Dalton Highway (AK 11) will be left unpaved for several years, to let the new roadbed settle down. But so long as the road to Tuktoyaktuk remains unpaved (probably indefinitely, all but a few km of the Dempster Hwy. to Inuvik has remained unpaved for several decades), if a sag or other irregularity develops, a grader can quickly fix it.

[Henry]

This is going to be one amazing drive!

[froggie]

Anyone know if it will be an extension of NT 8?

[oscar]

Anyone know if it will be an extension of NT 8?

It will, and also will be added to the Dempster Highway.

[Kniwt]

Construction season is now over until next winter, which still appears to be the last winter of construction before the road opens in fall 2017. Here's the official government news release, which doesn't really say much of significance beyond that:

http://news.gc.ca/web/article-en.do?nid=1067439

The governments of Canada and the Northwest Territories are pleased to announce the completion of a successful third construction season of the Inuvik Tuktoyaktuk Highway. This season saw the historic joining of the two construction spreads on April 7, linking the north and the south sections after years of hard work. Work will resume in the fall of 2016, with this northern-most section of the envisioned Mackenzie Valley Highway scheduled to open in the fall of 2017.

[nexus73]

So when does the new road get twinned?  LOL! 

Rick

[SignGeek101]

So when does the new road get twinned?  LOL! 

Rick

Maybe after they twin the Alaska highway