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Transportation and Economic Potential in the Arctic Woods, K NRC Publications Archive Archives des publications du CNRC Transportation and economic potential in the Arctic Woods, K. B.; Legget, R. F. This publication could be one of several versions: author’s original, accepted manuscript or the publisher’s version. / La version de cette publication peut être l’une des suivantes : la version prépublication de l’auteur, la version acceptée du manuscrit ou la version de l’éditeur. Publisher’s version / Version de l'éditeur: Traffic Quarterly, 14, pp. 435-458, 1960-12-01 NRC Publications Archive Record / Notice des Archives des publications du CNRC : https://nrc-publications.canada.ca/eng/view/object/?id=35ca3993-c5a1-47bc-94ba-3bbe04114bca https://publications-cnrc.canada.ca/fra/voir/objet/?id=35ca3993-c5a1-47bc-94ba-3bbe04114bca Access and use of this website and the material on it are subject to the Terms and Conditions set forth at https://nrc-publications.canada.ca/eng/copyright READ THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS CAREFULLY BEFORE USING THIS WEBSITE. L’accès à ce site Web et l’utilisation de son contenu sont assujettis aux conditions présentées dans le site https://publications-cnrc.canada.ca/fra/droits LISEZ CES CONDITIONS ATTENTIVEMENT AVANT D’UTILISER CE SITE WEB. Questions? Contact the NRC Publications Archive team at [email protected]. If you wish to email the authors directly, please see the first page of the publication for their contact information. Vous avez des questions? Nous pouvons vous aider. Pour communiquer directement avec un auteur, consultez la première page de la revue dans laquelle son article a été publié afin de trouver ses coordonnées. Si vous n’arrivez pas à les repérer, communiquez avec nous à [email protected]. $er TIIl N21t2 NertoNar REseencH CouNcrL no. LL3 CANADA e.2 BI,DG DIVISION OF BUILDING RESEARCH Transportation and Economic Potentialin the Arctic d K. B. WOODS AND R. F. LEGGET ":Ti8otHfl:" AN ALYT{ D FEB 13 1961 COUNGIL NATIONALRESEARCH TECHNICAL PAPER NO. tI3 OF THE DIVISION OF BUILDING RESEARCH REnRTNTED FRoM THE ocroBER 196o rssun oF TRAFFTc quARTERLy Copyright 196o, by the Eno Foundation for Highway Traffic Control, Inc. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conven- tions. Reproductions of Traffic Quarterly articles in whole or part without permission is strictly prohibited. Published quarterly by the Eno Foundation for Highway Traffic Control, Inc., at Saugatuck, Connecticur, issue for Octo- ber 196o. Printed in the U.S.A. Library of Congress catalog card: 5o-r78r. OTTAWA DECEMBER 1960 FRICE 50 CENTS NRC 5952 Transportation and Economic Potential in the Arctic K. B. WOODS AND R. F. LEGGET REIRTNTED FRoM TrrE ocroBER 196o rssur oF TRAFFTc quARTERLy Copyright 196o, by the Eno Foundation for Highway Traffic Control, Inc. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conven- tions. Reproductions of Traffic Quarterly articles in whole or part without permission is strictly prohibited. Published quarterly by the Eno Foundation for Highway Traffic Control, Inc., at Saugatuck, Connecticut, issue for Octo- ber 196o, Printed in the U.S.A. Library of Congress catalog card: 5o-r78r. -qArlA n4 Transportation and Economic Potentialin the Arctic K. B. WOODS AND R. F. LEGGET Sincet954, ProfessorWoods has been Head of theSchool of Ciail Engineer- ing andDirecnr of theJoint Highwalt ResearchProject at PurdueUniuersit2. Preaiouslt,he taught at Ohio State Uniuersitlt,and was in chargeof soils work for the Ohio Departmentof Highways. ProfessorWoods has been chainnanof the executiuecommittee of thz Highua2 ResearchBoard since t956, and was chairmanof thecommittee onfrost heaueand actionin soil from tg43 to 1952. He has receiuedHighway ResearchBoard awardsfor outstandingcontributioru to highway research.He was presidentof the AmericanSocietyfor Terting Materiak in rg5B-5g, and editor-in-chiefof the tg6o Highwal EngineeringHandbook. Mr. Leggethas been Director of theDiaision of Building Research,National ResearchCouncilofCanada, since t947. He is a ciuil engineer.After engineer- ing experiencein Scotlandand London, he went to Canadain t gzg andengaged in heaaltconstruction work until t936. He thenjoined the staf of Q&en's Uniuersitlt,and later the rtaf of the Uniaersit2oJ' Torontoas teacherand consultanton soil andfoundationproblems until t947. He was theninuited to Ottawa to start thenew Diaision of Building Research.He is theauthor of technicalpapers and books.He is a memberof the Institution of Ciail Engineers,the American Societ2of Ciuil Engineers,and the Engineeing Institute of Canada. TIRANSPORTATION in the Arctic ! What pictures the expres- I sion conjures up. The Arctic has always had fascination. One cannot read about Arctic exploration without realizing the vital importance of transportation in this vast and forbidding area. The Arctic now is less remote. The fact that regular airlines advertise "Arctic Routes to Europe" is one indication of the chang- ing sceneofnorthern development. Alaska's statehood has redirected the attention of Americans to its great potential. Correspondingly, Canadians also look northward as they see defense installations fol- lowed by exploration for Arctic oil. This development can only continue through improved trans- portation. What facilities are available for moving into and about 435 $6 TRAFFIC QUARTERLY the North? What are the possibilitiesfor such development in the immediate future? Where are the locationsin which developments are expected ? These are questions that arise as one gives thought to this last part of the North American continent to be fully explored. We shall summarize answers and attempt to give an ovei-all picture of the interrelation of transportation and Arctic development. The authors have seen much of the area they describe. They have traveled in the Arctic on foot, by water, on such roads as are available, and on four of the few railway lines that touch the North. Most of their travel has necessarilybeen by air, and this has given them at least an over-all view of the major features of this vast area. FOUR SEPARATE REGIONS Accordingly, and basedupon their own experience,though not perhaps in full accord with recognized physiographical division, we shall deal with the Arctic as four separate regicins: r. Alaska and the Yukon Territory, including the northern part of the interior plateau of northwest Canada and the Central Alaskan uplands and plains. z. The Northwest Territories-Mainland, including the north- ern part of the Laurentian uplands of the Canadian shield and the lowlands adjacent to Hudson Bay and the Arctic Ocean. 3. The Northwest Territories-the Arctic Archipelago, a geo- graphical division accurately describedby its name. 4. The Labrador-Ungava Peninsula including the Ungava portion of the province of Quebec and all of Labrador (a part of Newfoundland), all of this area being a section of the Laurentian uplands of the Canadian shield. (THE FouR-FrFTHsAS LARGEAs 48 sterns' The area under considerationis of great extent. It includesmost of the land massof North America north of the sixtieth parallel plus some of the lJngava Peninsula south of this parallel. It has a small population, and generally the region has an adverseclimate. Alaska with its 586,ooo square miles of area is one-fifth the size of the forty-eight states(about 3,ooo,ooosquare miles) but has a popula- tion of about 25o,ooo. TRANSPORTATION IN THE ARCTIC 437 The Northwest Territories of Canada have an area of about r,25o,ooo square miles with an estimated population of r9,ooo. Yukon Territory embraces2o7,ooo square miles and it has a popu- lation of perhaps r3,ooo. At the peak of the gold rush in rgor, this exceeded 27rooo.The Labrador-Ungava region has an area of about 3oo,ooo square miles with a population of not more than Iorooo people, exclusiveof the new towns on the North Shore of the St. Lawrence. The full extent of the Alaska-Canadian area under considera- tion is therefore about four'fifths the size of the forty-eight states, almost two-thirds the size of Canada and three-eighthsthe size of Canada and the forty-eight statescombined. ALASKA AND YUKON TERRITORY The mainland of Alaska lies between the Pacific Ocean on the south and the Arctic Ocean on the north. It extendswestward into the Bering Sea, at places only a relatively few miles from Asiatic Russia. The common boundary with the Yukon Territory of Can- ada is the only part of Alaska not adjacent to water. This extensive region contains high mountains, lowlands, plains, and plateaus- including large areasof permafrostl and tundra.z Adjacent parts of Northwest Canada, particularly Yukon Ter- ritory, have much in common with Central and Northern Alaska from the standpoint of physiography, climate, and history. Yukon Territory has the original discovery of gold advantage; Alaska, the water transportation advantage. In Alaska, the Copper River Valley and the Matanuska Valley are part of the Pacific Troughs between mountains of the Pacific Mountain system.Puget Sgund, Willamette River Valley, and the California Valley are counterpartsin the United States.Along the Canadian Coast, these troughs are submerged in the form of the Inland Passage.The Kenai and Chugach Rangesmake up part of the Alaskan CoastalRange to the south of the Alaska Basinswhile the Alaska Rlangeis to the north. A LONG MOUNTAIN SYSTEM The Alaska range with western extensionsof the Aleutian range I. Perennially frozen ground, e. A treelessarctic plain. 438 TRAFFIC qUARTBRLY and the Aleutian Islandsjoins the Canada Coastrange at the inter- national boundary. The Sierra Nevada-CascadeMountains are the counterpart in the United States,thus forming a part of the highest and longest mountain system in North America. In contrast, the Rocky Mountain system in the United States connectswith the beautiful rooo-mile long Canadian Rockies at the Canada-United Statesborder. The Canadian Rockiesbecome the Arctic Rockies (Mackenzie, Richardson, Ogilvie, and Selwyn Mountains in Yukon Territory and the Brooks Range in Alaska) to the north, and west to the Bering Sea.
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