There are several good places to view the 800-mile-long Trans Alaska Pipeline, including this spot along the Steese Expressway north of Fairbanks. There used to be an interpretive center here, but it was closed in about 2010. When construction of the pipeline from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez was completed in 1977, the $8 billion price tag was the highest for any privately-funded project in history, and the engineering really is quite remarkable, as it crosses unstable permafrost, punches through thick boreal forests, and crosses 800 rivers and streams, 3 major earthquake faults and 3 mountain ranges.

This photograph is © 2014 by Murray Lundberg, and is not to be copied without express permission.