UPDATE: Haul Road Under Repair By DOT After Flooding And Closures, Mile 305 to 356
Haul Road Washout Being Repaired Update From DOT JUNE 17, 2025 This emergency closure was initiated Saturday, June 14, due to a major was...
Haul Road Washout Being Repaired
Update From DOT
JUNE 17, 2025This emergency closure was initiated Saturday, June 14, due to a major washout at MP 315, where a failed culvert caused an 80-foot-wide, 30-foot-deep breach across the full width of the roadway. The closure from MP 305 to MP 356 remains in effect.The closure is expected to remain in effect through Wednesday. Once open, 24/7 traffic control will be in place from MP 315-345.5.
This morning’s update:MP 315:
48” culvert set ; placing 36” culvert today
Roadway buildup underway
Overnight monitoring for anticipated lane opening tomorrowMP 321–325: Water levels dropping steadilyNo new damage reportedMP 335 (Happy Valley):
Water overtopped in 3 areas
Culvert & shoulder embankment damage
Contractor assignedMP 345.5:
No new damage
Contractor assignedMP 346.9, 347.1, 350.6:
Water levels reduced
Repairs underwayMP 386.2:
Erosion occurring at the slope toe
Contractor on site today; completion expected this shift
FROM THE ALASKA BEACON
Flooding washes out Dalton Highway, main overland link to Prudhoe Bay oil fields
This image from the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, shows a washed out section of the Dalton Highway in June 2025. (Alaska DOT&PF photo)
A stretch of the Dalton Highway near the Saginavirktok River was washed out by flood waters on Saturday, leading to an 80-foot-wide gap in the only road leading to Prudhoe Bay.
As a result, the highway is closed between Milepost 305 and 356.
The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, which said the washout was due to a failed culvert, expects to reopen the road by Wednesday.
The North Slope experienced a cool spring followed by a stretch of warm weather that contributed to a rapid breakup on the Saginavirktok River and other bodies of water in the far north.
DOT said on Saturday that water was overtopping the road at another spot near the washout, there were places with shoulder damage, and at a site nearer Prudhoe Bay, water was being trapped against the raised roadbed due to a partially blocked culvert.
This year’s flooding, while significant, is less than what occurred in 2015, when huge stretches of the highway were washed out, causing an 18-day halt to traffic.
Climate change and permafrost thawing are making the North Slope’s ground increasingly unstable and are contributing to chaotic river breakups across the state.
