Ice Road Truckers (2007) s04e15 Episode Script
Deadly Melt
Tonight on ice road truckers Looks like the water's overflowing on top of the road.
The road is melting fast.
The road gets really slick, and it's really dangerous out here.
And every run is a chance for disaster.
Hugh goes toe to toe with the law.
You think maybe you were speeding a little bit? I don't know.
That's a long time ago.
Jack risks it all.
It's the most dangerous thing I've ever hauled.
And the d.
O.
T.
Crew races to stop a flooding river that could shut down the haul road.
Mother nature's at work here, and we have to try and control her.
With only three weeks left in the season, rising temperatures and melting ice make the Dalton more dangerous than ever, but with the load count crown up for grabs, the ice road isn't the only thing heating up.
I think there's a little competition there to get the load count.
Ray Veilleux is leading the pack with 17 loads, but just two loads back, last year's champ, Jack Jessee, has the rookie looking over his shoulder.
Jack is gonna win regardless, 'cause he's Jack.
He's been here forever.
14, 13 years, whatever.
He knows it all.
He's always gonna win.
It's all about Jack Jessee.
He's the ace of the haul road.
That's all there is to it.
But every ace crashes and burns once in a while.
Hey, Jack.
Hey, guys, what's going on today? Just the guy I was looking for.
You know what this is? Jet fuel, 1863.
Just got an order for some up on the slope.
You're the guy.
I know you can get it done.
We'll get to done.
Be careful.
All right, see you later.
When the haul road melts, the safest way to resupply the oil field is by plane.
Stocking up on jet fuel is a high priority and a very high risk.
Jet fuel is extremely volatile, has a low flash point.
It's the most dangerous thing I've ever hauled.
If this stuff gets just too hot, it can just go up for the heck of it.
So I'm gonna take extra caution.
Jack may be chasing ray in the load count, but there's no rushing when it comes to hauling explosives.
You know, when the temperature starts warming up, and we hit 29 and 30 degrees, things start to thaw.
The road starts to melt.
The road gets really slick, and it's really dangerous out here.
Spring thaw creates dangerous conditions for the drivers.
But it can also threaten the road itself.
The Dietrich river is rising, on course to destroy a critical section of the haul road.
And the Alaska d.
O.
T.
Is racing to prevent catastrophe.
We're heading up the, uh, Dalton highway now north of Coldfoot.
We're gonna go up here and check the Dietrich river.
Water's coming down and filling up with ice underneath the bridge again, and we're probably gonna have to mobilize the heavy equipment and come in here and dig it and trench it and keep the water from grabbing a hold of the bridge.
What happens is, as the water comes down, it builds up in layers until it gets up underneath the bridge.
As you can see, there's only about two feet left between the ice and the bottom of the bridge.
The danger of the ice grabbing the bridge is that it'll actually get a hold of this bridge and push it off its foundation.
The surface of the river may be frozen, but underneath the ice, water continues to flow.
But the culvert beneath the bridge creates a bottleneck, damming the river.
Over time, water builds up beneath the surface.
If the pressure isn't relieved, the strength of the water can lift the bridge off the pylons and send it downriver.
>>F this bridge were to become impassable, the effects would be hundreds of millions of dollars, because all the supplies to the north slope oil fields cross this bridge.
It would all stop right here if this bridge were to be taken out.
Well, we're gonna bring in the, uh, Komatsu 270 excavator.
We're gonna bring in a bobcat with a couple different attachments To break the ice loose to build the tunnel under the bridge for the water to pass through when spring break comes.
Mother nature's at work here, and we have to try and control her at times, and, hopefully, it won't get too out of hand.
She always gets the upper hand, though, and we'll have to manipulate it to keep the bridge intact.
100 Miles South, Greg Boadwine is on a different kind of rescue mission.
One of our other trucks broke down with a vanload of groceries.
Gotta hook on to it and get it to Prudhoe asap.
It's his third in the last month, and he's hoping that being a team player will help rebuild his career.
Here we go.
Been looking for ray.
Haven't seen him yet, but probably catch up to him, I would imagine.
He would be somebody to harass and get harassed by.
Definitely speeds the day up.
Just a few Miles ahead is rookie ray Veilleux, hauling short pipe and several containers of nitrogen.
We're trying to make it to Prudhoe.
This is a hot load.
It's gotta be there.
They're waiting on this stuff at a drill rig.
Nrogen gas is used to prevent explosions during oil drilling by reducing the oxygen level in the Wells.
Anything going to the drill rigs is pretty, like, high priority.
Guess I just found ray.
Gotta keep truckin'.
All right, ray, I am chasing you.
They may be running neck and neck today, but in the load count, Ray's leading the pack.
I think I got more loads than just about anybody.
And Greg is getting smoked.
Apparently, this load count's a big deal to some people.
I'm here to make the money, so that's what I'm shooting for.
Approaching one of e Dalton's steepest hills, smack talk takes a backseat to strategy.
The last big hill on this side is, uh, Koyukuk.
I usually spin out on that one.
Are you gonna get up there and be the test dummy for all the hills? Okay.
All season, Ray's racked up the loads by running hard.
Damn it! Come on.
And taking chances.
A misstep on this hill could cost him more than the load count crown.
I'm gonna hit it as hard as I can, 55 Miles an hour.
Don't miss any gears, buddy.
And then spin it out right in front of you.
With Greg so close behind him, if ray loses traction, he could slide backwards and send both trucks crashing down the Mountain.
All you can do is just freakin' peg it all the way up there as fast as you can.
Climb, baby, climb.
We're gonna spin out.
Wrong gear there.
Ray just missed a gear.
There's no way we're gonna make this.
Son of a.
Come on, now.
Keep climbing.
Think we're making it.
Talk about luck.
I would have never thought we'd make that one.
That was lucky.
Hey, Greg.
How many more hills you gonna burn out on? Dude, go easy! I didn't burn out.
I just missed a gear.
It's good making it up Koyukuk.
The next real hard one's gonna be Atigun pass.
150 Miles South Hey, Jack, I just want to say hi.
Well, hello yourself.
Can I tag along with you for a bit? Yeah, no problem at all.
For Lisa Kelly, the slippery road is a tough customer.
Lucky for her, she finds the haul road ace to show her the way.
I didn't know if you were gonna throw chains, because if so, I'll follow your lead.
What do you think? I don't know.
What do you think? Well, you're gonna have to make your own decision there.
Yeah, it's definitely, it's warm.
It's insane.
Lisa, got a copy? Yeah, go ahead, Teri.
Okay, thanks.
Well, that clinches it right there.
Well, there's your answer, Lisa.
10-4.
Just a few Miles ahead, slippery conditions has spun a rig off the road.
Did he go in the ditch? Yeah, totally.
He's southbound, totally off the road.
Oh, no.
Man! Pandemonium.
Coming up, nature's fury unleashed.
Oh, my God! Listen up.
Fairbanks A 20-ton truck caught a tire in the ditch and got pulled off the road.
The driver was, uh, securely seat-belted in the vehicle.
He got out.
Um, he wasHe was still shaken.
Back in Fairbanks, driver bill Nick is lucky to be alive.
I was following the berm, and the berm had melted back, and I didn't realize it.
And I got the steer tire off the shoulder.
The shoulders are steep, and once you're off, you're gone.
For state trooper Adam Benson, scenes like this are all too familiar.
Well, that looks like the road edge, but that's just hard-packed snow.
The margin for error is so small that it just takes a momentary lapse of, you know, really focused attention on what's happening around you, and the next thing you know, you're upside down or sideways.
You want more slack, Ben? No, I got her! We should be able to get it up on the road now and be back in business.
Have him turn that steering wheel! Finally, the rig is back on the road.
Any good day you can walk away from something like this on the Dalton is a better day.
As the road re-opens, the wrecked truck is a clear warning to Jack and Lisa.
I think I'm gonna be super careful not to get too close to the edge.
I'll switch with you.
You can take my tanker.
Yeah, I know.
Running off the road with 52 tons of explosive jet fuel, the rescue effort might not be so easy.
I'd rather jump out of a plane without a parachute on than tip a tanker over in a ditch.
You know, if this stuff ever did light off, I'm supposed to get in touch with fire departments and all kinds of things, but the funny part about it is, up here, there is none.
The first thing I would do is just be running like hell.
Jack rolls north over the Yukon river, where last year's thaw led to one of the most devastating natural disasters in Alaskan history.
In the spring of 2009, the historic town of eagle was nearly wiped off the map.
Well, the ice started to break on may the 3rd.
For eagle resident pat Sanders, the day began as a celebration.
Look at that! Oh, my God! The mood around the town was just joy, because that break-up to us is just a sign of spring.
It's just miraculous to watch the power.
Man! Oh, look at that! But then, later that evening, the water really came up higher than we'd ever seen before.
Unseasonably warm temperatures led to an early break-up of the river's ice.
The usual slow stream of small ice chunks gave way to huge floating icebergs washing downriver.
And that's when we became very concerned.
Oh, my gosh! The ice was going to be more than just, "wow, it was a great break-up, and it's over.
" It wasn't over.
Soon, the icebergs tangled with debris, creating an instant dam and choking off the powerful river.
Just hours later, the Yukon had breached its banks, sending a torrent of icy water smashing through the town.
My husband, all of a sudden, he said, "Jean, we gotta go right now.
" There were icebergs higher than houses.
You know, 50 feet high.
You could hear two-foot-diameter trees snapping off.
It sounded like a shogun going off.
It took buildings and just moved them around like they were nothing, like they were part of a Dollhouse.
For three days, the devastation continued.
When the flood subsided, a quarter of the residents had lost their homes, and eagle's historic front street was leveled.
Nothing manmade could have withstood the pressure of the ice that came up against this building.
Just the power of the ice and water together was It's hard to describe.
It really is.
Back at the Carlile yard in Fairbanks Single-handedly successfully hauled the majority of the pipe up to [Bleep.]
Prudhoe bay this year.
Hugh's 17th load of the season may be standard-issue pipe Oh, my favorite trailers.
But every load is a new challenge.
Old trailers.
Well, I should still be able to get up there.
Have to try her again.
With a load this heavy, hand-cranking the trailer isn't gonna work.
She won't come up high enough.
Yeah, I'll have to go get that forklift.
Hugh calls in some extra truck yard muscle to get the job done.
It's just an old trailer, and it, uh I'll just have to make sure she's hooked up right.
They'll just lift it up, crank the legs down, and I can get under it.
That's probably good.
Okay, let's rock and roll.
Hugh hits the road, hoping the delay didn't cost him his chance to sneak past the d.
O.
T.
Inspection point.
Been lucky the last , I think it's three trips, maybe even four trips, I been lucky here.
I've just got my knucks crossed again.
Make sure that, uh, my favorite D.
O.
T.
Man ain't there, and, uh, wants to give me a strip search and a cavity check.
Is that what that says, check? Yep, check load.
They bust my balls 'cause I'm Canadian.
I've been trying to avoid that guy.
He costs me nothing but time.
My [Bleep.]
[Bleep.]
Hole puckers right up every time I go by there.
If I get by there again, I'll be a happy guy.
There's the "open" sign.
Well, worst-case scenario here is, uh, they put me out of service and fine me.
That wants my ass.
Coming up, Hugh gets busted.
You averaged 60.
6 Miles an hour, which is 10 Miles an hour over the speed limit.
And the d.
O.
T.
Faces down the flood.
Just past Coldfoot, Jack and Lisa are each hauling their 15th load.
Hey, Jack, I heard on the radio Greg and ray are in front of us a little ways.
I know Ray's doing good on the load count.
That's great for ray.
Two loads behind the leader, the reigning king of the haul road has nothing to prove to a rookie.
If you compare loads, Ray's to mine, he's got more of them.
I've been out here ten years just about.
I've got plenty of loads under my belt.
I know only losers say, "winning doesn't matter, it's how you play the game," but, um, what's important to me is making money, so it's not about the number of loads that I'm doing.
It's about the dollar signs.
Ray's been doing a lot of pipe, which is, uh It's quick to hook and unhook, get from point "a" to point "b," drop it, grab something else, and just go again.
I've moved pieces that take longer to move.
While Jack moves his jet fuel on toward prudhoe bay Back in Fairbanks And, basically, the couple of reasons is Hugh can't get past the d.
O.
T.
Inspector.
Here's the 17th.
Ten hours from prudhoe bay to Fairbanks? There's just no way that's possible without either speeding or No, I didn't stop nowhere.
You think maybe you were speeding a little bit? I don't know.
That's a long time ago.
Let's go inside.
This is what I noticed, looking over this.
This is the day that I'm concerned with.
Fairbanks.
From prudhoe there You averaged 60.
6 Miles an hour, which is ten Miles an hour over the speed limit.
You were breaking the speed limit laws during that period.
Maybe you had a wind behind you? I'm just telling you that the average speed between here and here, these two points, is above the speed limit.
Well, I'll tell you what, so 60 Miles an hour is out of the question, so Okay.
All righty.
So, I must have [Bleep.]
Ed up on the log book.
List of violations that I found today.
"Driver did not indicate" location.
Driver did not add hours correctly.
Driver recorded ten hours to drive from prudhoe bay to "Fairbanks, Alaska.
" Okay, what happens there? Thank you.
Don't let it happen again.
Okay.
They gave me a green light.
They ain't throwing me in jail this year.
Despite three violations on his log book, Hugh is counting it as a win.
No fines, no points, no.
Good show.
I hope it's the final chapter at the scales.
I can't tell you.
on the frozen Dietrich river There's the pipe in all its glory.
Hear the ice crack? Think we'll fall in? I don't think so.
Kenton bear from the d.
O.
T.
Is checking the overflow that threatens to wipe out the bridge.
This is some, uh It's about four inches deep.
It's water and slush on top of the ice.
Now, this shiny area here's the water flowing out on top of the ice.
It's probably a couple of inches deep.
Then over here, we have the the leading edge here as it's, uh, creeping along, heading downstream on top of the ice.
And it's heading down here to the bridge underneath the, uh, pipeline and the highway.
Downstream, an excavator is busy digging a massive hole in the ice, big enough to handle a rush of What this trench is gonna do is it's gonna funnel all the water that's happening between now and spring break on downstream, so it stays out from underneath the bridge.
When the ice builds up underneath the bridge, it'll actually grab a hold of the beams, pull it off the girders, in the worst case scenario, and we're trying to prevent that.
But as the long arm of the excavator tries to dig under the 14-foor-tall bridge, there's a problem.
Don't hit the bridge! Don't hit the bridge! After going as far as they can with the shovel, k-bear calls in a bobcat with a pneumatic hammer to finish the job.
There's about 20,000 or there that's gonna come right on through to this side.
We're gonna be standing in a lake over here.
With the overflow creeping closer and the pressure under the bridge still not released K-bear decides to run a back-up plan.
Yeah, I got the steam tech boiler over there.
We're gonna run the long hose out, put the steam hose on here.
We'll get some steam going through here, and we're gonna melt a trench.
I'm gonna turn the switch on, and we're gonna get some steam and melt some ice.
Get some water flowing.
Either he's gonna get there first, or I will.
We have ignition.
Two hours later, the bobcat is close to breaking through.
If you break through to that water, that's your cue.
Get out of this hole.
Yeah.
Well, there's a lot of water over there.
It's gonna get messy quick.
Here we go.
Coming up Look out! The dam breaks And Jack gets busted.
Oh, no.
Coldfoot on the frozen Dietrich river I want to see the water, and lots of it.
It's right there.
The d.
O.
T.
Is about to unleash a river of raging water.
Gonna have mark finish up underneath the bridge here.
We're gonna get one more cut on the face, and this is gonna be full of water quick.
Good to go! We broke the dam underneath there with the bobcat.
If we had a canoe, we could take a check ride right down our trench all the way to the end of trench.
With the water flowing, the shovel moves back in to finish the job.
Quite a bit of water blasting down through there.
I think we got the river flowing again under the bridge.
The few days that it takes to do this trenching and get the ice out from the bridge is a small price to pay, 'cause if we lost this bridge, it'd be a multimillion-dollar deal, and it'd shut down the Dalton highway, and they wouldn't be able to supply the north slope, keep the oil patch going.
As the spring melt accelerates, overflows begin to pop up all over the Dalton.
At the base of Atigun pass, ray and Greg proceed with caution.
We're right behind Greg.
Greg's, like, 200 yards ahead of us.
Nice.
Great.
Looks like the water's overflowing on top of the road.
Right now, we're running for Atigun pass, so we're just trying to get up some speed here.
Ray needs momentum to make the 4,700-foot climb with his 11-ton load.
As soon as they start up Another convoy comes barreling back down at them.
You're gonna hold? Great.
Headed uphill, Greg and ray should have the right of way.
Damn, this sucks.
I lost all my freakin' speed.
Can't get your momentum back up on these hills.
Just too [Bleep.]
Steep.
That ain't good.
Oops.
Missed that one.
You movin'? Yeah, I'm gonna have to chain up.
This sucks.
Nobody wants to be in the middle of the road stuck.
See, and we just went through a bunch of water.
Now my chains are all Got a bunch of ice frozen all over it.
Rookie crap, rookie crap, rookie crap.
I am the new guy on the haul road.
It's okay.
Even if you're calling yourself the new guy on the road, you're definitely the veteran with the chains.
Least I didn't lay it over on its side yet.
Touche.
Jack and Lisa continue their push to prudhoe bay.
What's going on? You're gonna have to wait till we get over this hill and somewhere else.
You stop at the bottom, you won't make the top.
Got your eyeballs floating? Suddenly, Jack has someone else in his rearview mirror.
Oh, no.
You haven't had enough bells and whistles yet today, Becky? I guess not.
With road conditions this slippery, the d.
O.
T.
Is out in force to make sure truckers are running safe.
Lisa keeps rolling, but Jack's dangerous load grabs the inspector's attention.
Afternoon, Jack.
How you doing? I'm doing good.
Can I please see your log book and your last inspection? Absolutely.
Get me your log book Oh, you're killing me.
Your license, your medical, your vehicle registration.
Okay, medical card is good.
You can have that back.
Okay, here.
Shipping papers.
Oh, shipping papers.
Emergency response guide information.
Like your little orange book or m.
S.
Data sheet? I gotta have one of those? Yeah, you do.
How long have you been hauling tanks? Yeah, but I always know what I'm hauling.
Okay.
You gotta have that book with you.
Did you know that? I should have known that.
Any trucker hauling hazardous material is required to carry an emergency response guide with safety information in case of accidents or spills.
What happens if he can't find it? He's gonna get a violation on his inspection report.
This is orange.
No, Jack, no.
"Emergency response" on it.
That won't work? Good try, Jack.
You can see my back-up just arrived so if Jack gives me any trouble when I read his violation off to him, I got some back-up here.
Trouble.
Put your hands up against the truck.
Ain't that the truth? You do have one violation on the inspection report.
The failure to have your emergency response guide information with you.
Right.
Um, sign right there for me, please.
There's three copies, so please sign all three.
It was right of them to do what they did.
They're just doing a job.
I guess it more hurts my pride that I didn't have everything I need, 'cause I usually do.
I usually have everything right, ducks in a row.
It's still a mark, and that mark's gonna stay with me now for, like, three more years, I think.
Coming up, Hugh makes a big move.
Any sudden movements, and we're in the ditch, I'll guarantee you that.
And Alex ups the ante.
Il go $100.
Midnight, prudhoe bay.
Is that all you had for paperwork? That's it.
Aw, you got the van.
Yeah.
Most of the day's loads have rolled in to the Carlile yard.
You said you got a ticket for not having the orange book in your car, but didn't I give you one? Yeah.
Well, how did you not have it? 'Cause I gave it back.
I said I didn't need it back till later.
I said it didn't matter.
Well, I just sped up the "later" so I wouldn't forget.
Then I end up getting pulled over not having it and needing it, 'cause I couldn't find one in my truck.
It's funny, isn't it? No.
You should have kept it.
Uh, well, in hindsight, yeah.
the polar bear is still trucking.
I'm just cooking on her tonight.
We got to get rid of the lead weight around my neck, Holding me down.
And early-morning run-in with the d.
O.
T You were breaking the speed limit laws.
Forced Hugh to slow down.
I gotta do everything according to [Bleep.]
The rulebook.
If he wants to win the dash for the cash, he's going to have to do it without breaking the You know, I just gotta go a little A little steadier, a little harder, and, uh, sooner or later that's how I always catch up and get an extra load on 'em.
But old habits die hard.
Come on! Or get off the pot.
Let's [Bleep.]
Move it.
This guy's riding his brakes for some reason.
Hate guys that touch their brakes all the time, 'cause you don't know what they must be almost unsure.
And you gotta stay half a mile apart on ice.
You cannot be doing that.
The roads are slipperier than hell.
I can't stop, I can't slow down, so the next best thing to do is speed up.
Hang onto your ass with both hands.
We're going in.
Hugh is trying to shoot through a ten-foot-wide gap with an eight-foot-wide truck.
Any sudden movements, and we're in the ditch, I'll guarantee you that.
Come on! Come on, stick with it.
Baby, you can do it.
Come on.
You get a little bit excited? I [Bleep.]
Love it.
Makes the heart go a little bit faster, and Hugh heads to prudhoe with his 17th load, but he's only got a week left to make a run at the rookie.
With the end of the season in sight, the ice road truckers take time to catch up before the final push to the finish line.
Thank you.
It's really good pulled pork.
And it doesn't take long for the load count competition to surface.
I'll bet you I'll haul as many or more loads as you guys this year.
I'll go $100.
Why don't you start out slow? As long as it is not a race of any sort, just a cumulative count towards the end.
Sure.
At the bottom of the load board, Greg is quick to offer a different spin on the bet.
I'll change it on you a bit.
Instead of making it a bet for the loads, all the money goes to a beer fund so we can sit around after we're all back home safe and just blow a bunch of money on anything we want.
I say it's 100 bucks to the beer fund.
Beer fund? Yep, and whoever wins has to go since they made the most loads, they gotta go pick up all the beer.
I'm just gonna drink.
I'm thinking, so I'm holding onto the beer money.
What do you guys think? I probably trust you.
I think so.
That ought to work.
All right.
You look trustworthy.
So hand it over.
You can hold mine.
So where's your buddy, uh, Hugh? Well, we're gonna be calling Hughie here, since you got 500 in the pot.
Let's see if we can make it 600.
Hughie, my short-peckered friend, how are you? We just made a bet about who's gonna make then most loads, and, uh, that's None of that cheap Canadian stuff, eh? So you're gonna be in for Okay, bye.
Be safe about it.
Get there in one piece.
Make sure everybody gets back.
Sounds good.
Make some money.
I like the money part.
Well, I'm gonna go home and rest up.
See you guys out on the road tomorrow.
Soon as I stand up, I might fall over.
Next, on the season finale of ice road truckers So I got more loads than anybody else.
I'm pretty proud of myself.
Rookie ray races to defend his lead.
Let me around.
That.
But the ice road veterans Hold on for the ride.
Aren't going down without a fight.
The throne is empty right now.
That's up for grabs as far as I'm concerned.
As the battle to be king of the haul road reaches the boiling point.
Burnt out.
Ray [Bleep.]
With my safety.
War now.
The road is melting fast.
The road gets really slick, and it's really dangerous out here.
And every run is a chance for disaster.
Hugh goes toe to toe with the law.
You think maybe you were speeding a little bit? I don't know.
That's a long time ago.
Jack risks it all.
It's the most dangerous thing I've ever hauled.
And the d.
O.
T.
Crew races to stop a flooding river that could shut down the haul road.
Mother nature's at work here, and we have to try and control her.
With only three weeks left in the season, rising temperatures and melting ice make the Dalton more dangerous than ever, but with the load count crown up for grabs, the ice road isn't the only thing heating up.
I think there's a little competition there to get the load count.
Ray Veilleux is leading the pack with 17 loads, but just two loads back, last year's champ, Jack Jessee, has the rookie looking over his shoulder.
Jack is gonna win regardless, 'cause he's Jack.
He's been here forever.
14, 13 years, whatever.
He knows it all.
He's always gonna win.
It's all about Jack Jessee.
He's the ace of the haul road.
That's all there is to it.
But every ace crashes and burns once in a while.
Hey, Jack.
Hey, guys, what's going on today? Just the guy I was looking for.
You know what this is? Jet fuel, 1863.
Just got an order for some up on the slope.
You're the guy.
I know you can get it done.
We'll get to done.
Be careful.
All right, see you later.
When the haul road melts, the safest way to resupply the oil field is by plane.
Stocking up on jet fuel is a high priority and a very high risk.
Jet fuel is extremely volatile, has a low flash point.
It's the most dangerous thing I've ever hauled.
If this stuff gets just too hot, it can just go up for the heck of it.
So I'm gonna take extra caution.
Jack may be chasing ray in the load count, but there's no rushing when it comes to hauling explosives.
You know, when the temperature starts warming up, and we hit 29 and 30 degrees, things start to thaw.
The road starts to melt.
The road gets really slick, and it's really dangerous out here.
Spring thaw creates dangerous conditions for the drivers.
But it can also threaten the road itself.
The Dietrich river is rising, on course to destroy a critical section of the haul road.
And the Alaska d.
O.
T.
Is racing to prevent catastrophe.
We're heading up the, uh, Dalton highway now north of Coldfoot.
We're gonna go up here and check the Dietrich river.
Water's coming down and filling up with ice underneath the bridge again, and we're probably gonna have to mobilize the heavy equipment and come in here and dig it and trench it and keep the water from grabbing a hold of the bridge.
What happens is, as the water comes down, it builds up in layers until it gets up underneath the bridge.
As you can see, there's only about two feet left between the ice and the bottom of the bridge.
The danger of the ice grabbing the bridge is that it'll actually get a hold of this bridge and push it off its foundation.
The surface of the river may be frozen, but underneath the ice, water continues to flow.
But the culvert beneath the bridge creates a bottleneck, damming the river.
Over time, water builds up beneath the surface.
If the pressure isn't relieved, the strength of the water can lift the bridge off the pylons and send it downriver.
>>F this bridge were to become impassable, the effects would be hundreds of millions of dollars, because all the supplies to the north slope oil fields cross this bridge.
It would all stop right here if this bridge were to be taken out.
Well, we're gonna bring in the, uh, Komatsu 270 excavator.
We're gonna bring in a bobcat with a couple different attachments To break the ice loose to build the tunnel under the bridge for the water to pass through when spring break comes.
Mother nature's at work here, and we have to try and control her at times, and, hopefully, it won't get too out of hand.
She always gets the upper hand, though, and we'll have to manipulate it to keep the bridge intact.
100 Miles South, Greg Boadwine is on a different kind of rescue mission.
One of our other trucks broke down with a vanload of groceries.
Gotta hook on to it and get it to Prudhoe asap.
It's his third in the last month, and he's hoping that being a team player will help rebuild his career.
Here we go.
Been looking for ray.
Haven't seen him yet, but probably catch up to him, I would imagine.
He would be somebody to harass and get harassed by.
Definitely speeds the day up.
Just a few Miles ahead is rookie ray Veilleux, hauling short pipe and several containers of nitrogen.
We're trying to make it to Prudhoe.
This is a hot load.
It's gotta be there.
They're waiting on this stuff at a drill rig.
Nrogen gas is used to prevent explosions during oil drilling by reducing the oxygen level in the Wells.
Anything going to the drill rigs is pretty, like, high priority.
Guess I just found ray.
Gotta keep truckin'.
All right, ray, I am chasing you.
They may be running neck and neck today, but in the load count, Ray's leading the pack.
I think I got more loads than just about anybody.
And Greg is getting smoked.
Apparently, this load count's a big deal to some people.
I'm here to make the money, so that's what I'm shooting for.
Approaching one of e Dalton's steepest hills, smack talk takes a backseat to strategy.
The last big hill on this side is, uh, Koyukuk.
I usually spin out on that one.
Are you gonna get up there and be the test dummy for all the hills? Okay.
All season, Ray's racked up the loads by running hard.
Damn it! Come on.
And taking chances.
A misstep on this hill could cost him more than the load count crown.
I'm gonna hit it as hard as I can, 55 Miles an hour.
Don't miss any gears, buddy.
And then spin it out right in front of you.
With Greg so close behind him, if ray loses traction, he could slide backwards and send both trucks crashing down the Mountain.
All you can do is just freakin' peg it all the way up there as fast as you can.
Climb, baby, climb.
We're gonna spin out.
Wrong gear there.
Ray just missed a gear.
There's no way we're gonna make this.
Son of a.
Come on, now.
Keep climbing.
Think we're making it.
Talk about luck.
I would have never thought we'd make that one.
That was lucky.
Hey, Greg.
How many more hills you gonna burn out on? Dude, go easy! I didn't burn out.
I just missed a gear.
It's good making it up Koyukuk.
The next real hard one's gonna be Atigun pass.
150 Miles South Hey, Jack, I just want to say hi.
Well, hello yourself.
Can I tag along with you for a bit? Yeah, no problem at all.
For Lisa Kelly, the slippery road is a tough customer.
Lucky for her, she finds the haul road ace to show her the way.
I didn't know if you were gonna throw chains, because if so, I'll follow your lead.
What do you think? I don't know.
What do you think? Well, you're gonna have to make your own decision there.
Yeah, it's definitely, it's warm.
It's insane.
Lisa, got a copy? Yeah, go ahead, Teri.
Okay, thanks.
Well, that clinches it right there.
Well, there's your answer, Lisa.
10-4.
Just a few Miles ahead, slippery conditions has spun a rig off the road.
Did he go in the ditch? Yeah, totally.
He's southbound, totally off the road.
Oh, no.
Man! Pandemonium.
Coming up, nature's fury unleashed.
Oh, my God! Listen up.
Fairbanks A 20-ton truck caught a tire in the ditch and got pulled off the road.
The driver was, uh, securely seat-belted in the vehicle.
He got out.
Um, he wasHe was still shaken.
Back in Fairbanks, driver bill Nick is lucky to be alive.
I was following the berm, and the berm had melted back, and I didn't realize it.
And I got the steer tire off the shoulder.
The shoulders are steep, and once you're off, you're gone.
For state trooper Adam Benson, scenes like this are all too familiar.
Well, that looks like the road edge, but that's just hard-packed snow.
The margin for error is so small that it just takes a momentary lapse of, you know, really focused attention on what's happening around you, and the next thing you know, you're upside down or sideways.
You want more slack, Ben? No, I got her! We should be able to get it up on the road now and be back in business.
Have him turn that steering wheel! Finally, the rig is back on the road.
Any good day you can walk away from something like this on the Dalton is a better day.
As the road re-opens, the wrecked truck is a clear warning to Jack and Lisa.
I think I'm gonna be super careful not to get too close to the edge.
I'll switch with you.
You can take my tanker.
Yeah, I know.
Running off the road with 52 tons of explosive jet fuel, the rescue effort might not be so easy.
I'd rather jump out of a plane without a parachute on than tip a tanker over in a ditch.
You know, if this stuff ever did light off, I'm supposed to get in touch with fire departments and all kinds of things, but the funny part about it is, up here, there is none.
The first thing I would do is just be running like hell.
Jack rolls north over the Yukon river, where last year's thaw led to one of the most devastating natural disasters in Alaskan history.
In the spring of 2009, the historic town of eagle was nearly wiped off the map.
Well, the ice started to break on may the 3rd.
For eagle resident pat Sanders, the day began as a celebration.
Look at that! Oh, my God! The mood around the town was just joy, because that break-up to us is just a sign of spring.
It's just miraculous to watch the power.
Man! Oh, look at that! But then, later that evening, the water really came up higher than we'd ever seen before.
Unseasonably warm temperatures led to an early break-up of the river's ice.
The usual slow stream of small ice chunks gave way to huge floating icebergs washing downriver.
And that's when we became very concerned.
Oh, my gosh! The ice was going to be more than just, "wow, it was a great break-up, and it's over.
" It wasn't over.
Soon, the icebergs tangled with debris, creating an instant dam and choking off the powerful river.
Just hours later, the Yukon had breached its banks, sending a torrent of icy water smashing through the town.
My husband, all of a sudden, he said, "Jean, we gotta go right now.
" There were icebergs higher than houses.
You know, 50 feet high.
You could hear two-foot-diameter trees snapping off.
It sounded like a shogun going off.
It took buildings and just moved them around like they were nothing, like they were part of a Dollhouse.
For three days, the devastation continued.
When the flood subsided, a quarter of the residents had lost their homes, and eagle's historic front street was leveled.
Nothing manmade could have withstood the pressure of the ice that came up against this building.
Just the power of the ice and water together was It's hard to describe.
It really is.
Back at the Carlile yard in Fairbanks Single-handedly successfully hauled the majority of the pipe up to [Bleep.]
Prudhoe bay this year.
Hugh's 17th load of the season may be standard-issue pipe Oh, my favorite trailers.
But every load is a new challenge.
Old trailers.
Well, I should still be able to get up there.
Have to try her again.
With a load this heavy, hand-cranking the trailer isn't gonna work.
She won't come up high enough.
Yeah, I'll have to go get that forklift.
Hugh calls in some extra truck yard muscle to get the job done.
It's just an old trailer, and it, uh I'll just have to make sure she's hooked up right.
They'll just lift it up, crank the legs down, and I can get under it.
That's probably good.
Okay, let's rock and roll.
Hugh hits the road, hoping the delay didn't cost him his chance to sneak past the d.
O.
T.
Inspection point.
Been lucky the last , I think it's three trips, maybe even four trips, I been lucky here.
I've just got my knucks crossed again.
Make sure that, uh, my favorite D.
O.
T.
Man ain't there, and, uh, wants to give me a strip search and a cavity check.
Is that what that says, check? Yep, check load.
They bust my balls 'cause I'm Canadian.
I've been trying to avoid that guy.
He costs me nothing but time.
My [Bleep.]
[Bleep.]
Hole puckers right up every time I go by there.
If I get by there again, I'll be a happy guy.
There's the "open" sign.
Well, worst-case scenario here is, uh, they put me out of service and fine me.
That wants my ass.
Coming up, Hugh gets busted.
You averaged 60.
6 Miles an hour, which is 10 Miles an hour over the speed limit.
And the d.
O.
T.
Faces down the flood.
Just past Coldfoot, Jack and Lisa are each hauling their 15th load.
Hey, Jack, I heard on the radio Greg and ray are in front of us a little ways.
I know Ray's doing good on the load count.
That's great for ray.
Two loads behind the leader, the reigning king of the haul road has nothing to prove to a rookie.
If you compare loads, Ray's to mine, he's got more of them.
I've been out here ten years just about.
I've got plenty of loads under my belt.
I know only losers say, "winning doesn't matter, it's how you play the game," but, um, what's important to me is making money, so it's not about the number of loads that I'm doing.
It's about the dollar signs.
Ray's been doing a lot of pipe, which is, uh It's quick to hook and unhook, get from point "a" to point "b," drop it, grab something else, and just go again.
I've moved pieces that take longer to move.
While Jack moves his jet fuel on toward prudhoe bay Back in Fairbanks And, basically, the couple of reasons is Hugh can't get past the d.
O.
T.
Inspector.
Here's the 17th.
Ten hours from prudhoe bay to Fairbanks? There's just no way that's possible without either speeding or No, I didn't stop nowhere.
You think maybe you were speeding a little bit? I don't know.
That's a long time ago.
Let's go inside.
This is what I noticed, looking over this.
This is the day that I'm concerned with.
Fairbanks.
From prudhoe there You averaged 60.
6 Miles an hour, which is ten Miles an hour over the speed limit.
You were breaking the speed limit laws during that period.
Maybe you had a wind behind you? I'm just telling you that the average speed between here and here, these two points, is above the speed limit.
Well, I'll tell you what, so 60 Miles an hour is out of the question, so Okay.
All righty.
So, I must have [Bleep.]
Ed up on the log book.
List of violations that I found today.
"Driver did not indicate" location.
Driver did not add hours correctly.
Driver recorded ten hours to drive from prudhoe bay to "Fairbanks, Alaska.
" Okay, what happens there? Thank you.
Don't let it happen again.
Okay.
They gave me a green light.
They ain't throwing me in jail this year.
Despite three violations on his log book, Hugh is counting it as a win.
No fines, no points, no.
Good show.
I hope it's the final chapter at the scales.
I can't tell you.
on the frozen Dietrich river There's the pipe in all its glory.
Hear the ice crack? Think we'll fall in? I don't think so.
Kenton bear from the d.
O.
T.
Is checking the overflow that threatens to wipe out the bridge.
This is some, uh It's about four inches deep.
It's water and slush on top of the ice.
Now, this shiny area here's the water flowing out on top of the ice.
It's probably a couple of inches deep.
Then over here, we have the the leading edge here as it's, uh, creeping along, heading downstream on top of the ice.
And it's heading down here to the bridge underneath the, uh, pipeline and the highway.
Downstream, an excavator is busy digging a massive hole in the ice, big enough to handle a rush of What this trench is gonna do is it's gonna funnel all the water that's happening between now and spring break on downstream, so it stays out from underneath the bridge.
When the ice builds up underneath the bridge, it'll actually grab a hold of the beams, pull it off the girders, in the worst case scenario, and we're trying to prevent that.
But as the long arm of the excavator tries to dig under the 14-foor-tall bridge, there's a problem.
Don't hit the bridge! Don't hit the bridge! After going as far as they can with the shovel, k-bear calls in a bobcat with a pneumatic hammer to finish the job.
There's about 20,000 or there that's gonna come right on through to this side.
We're gonna be standing in a lake over here.
With the overflow creeping closer and the pressure under the bridge still not released K-bear decides to run a back-up plan.
Yeah, I got the steam tech boiler over there.
We're gonna run the long hose out, put the steam hose on here.
We'll get some steam going through here, and we're gonna melt a trench.
I'm gonna turn the switch on, and we're gonna get some steam and melt some ice.
Get some water flowing.
Either he's gonna get there first, or I will.
We have ignition.
Two hours later, the bobcat is close to breaking through.
If you break through to that water, that's your cue.
Get out of this hole.
Yeah.
Well, there's a lot of water over there.
It's gonna get messy quick.
Here we go.
Coming up Look out! The dam breaks And Jack gets busted.
Oh, no.
Coldfoot on the frozen Dietrich river I want to see the water, and lots of it.
It's right there.
The d.
O.
T.
Is about to unleash a river of raging water.
Gonna have mark finish up underneath the bridge here.
We're gonna get one more cut on the face, and this is gonna be full of water quick.
Good to go! We broke the dam underneath there with the bobcat.
If we had a canoe, we could take a check ride right down our trench all the way to the end of trench.
With the water flowing, the shovel moves back in to finish the job.
Quite a bit of water blasting down through there.
I think we got the river flowing again under the bridge.
The few days that it takes to do this trenching and get the ice out from the bridge is a small price to pay, 'cause if we lost this bridge, it'd be a multimillion-dollar deal, and it'd shut down the Dalton highway, and they wouldn't be able to supply the north slope, keep the oil patch going.
As the spring melt accelerates, overflows begin to pop up all over the Dalton.
At the base of Atigun pass, ray and Greg proceed with caution.
We're right behind Greg.
Greg's, like, 200 yards ahead of us.
Nice.
Great.
Looks like the water's overflowing on top of the road.
Right now, we're running for Atigun pass, so we're just trying to get up some speed here.
Ray needs momentum to make the 4,700-foot climb with his 11-ton load.
As soon as they start up Another convoy comes barreling back down at them.
You're gonna hold? Great.
Headed uphill, Greg and ray should have the right of way.
Damn, this sucks.
I lost all my freakin' speed.
Can't get your momentum back up on these hills.
Just too [Bleep.]
Steep.
That ain't good.
Oops.
Missed that one.
You movin'? Yeah, I'm gonna have to chain up.
This sucks.
Nobody wants to be in the middle of the road stuck.
See, and we just went through a bunch of water.
Now my chains are all Got a bunch of ice frozen all over it.
Rookie crap, rookie crap, rookie crap.
I am the new guy on the haul road.
It's okay.
Even if you're calling yourself the new guy on the road, you're definitely the veteran with the chains.
Least I didn't lay it over on its side yet.
Touche.
Jack and Lisa continue their push to prudhoe bay.
What's going on? You're gonna have to wait till we get over this hill and somewhere else.
You stop at the bottom, you won't make the top.
Got your eyeballs floating? Suddenly, Jack has someone else in his rearview mirror.
Oh, no.
You haven't had enough bells and whistles yet today, Becky? I guess not.
With road conditions this slippery, the d.
O.
T.
Is out in force to make sure truckers are running safe.
Lisa keeps rolling, but Jack's dangerous load grabs the inspector's attention.
Afternoon, Jack.
How you doing? I'm doing good.
Can I please see your log book and your last inspection? Absolutely.
Get me your log book Oh, you're killing me.
Your license, your medical, your vehicle registration.
Okay, medical card is good.
You can have that back.
Okay, here.
Shipping papers.
Oh, shipping papers.
Emergency response guide information.
Like your little orange book or m.
S.
Data sheet? I gotta have one of those? Yeah, you do.
How long have you been hauling tanks? Yeah, but I always know what I'm hauling.
Okay.
You gotta have that book with you.
Did you know that? I should have known that.
Any trucker hauling hazardous material is required to carry an emergency response guide with safety information in case of accidents or spills.
What happens if he can't find it? He's gonna get a violation on his inspection report.
This is orange.
No, Jack, no.
"Emergency response" on it.
That won't work? Good try, Jack.
You can see my back-up just arrived so if Jack gives me any trouble when I read his violation off to him, I got some back-up here.
Trouble.
Put your hands up against the truck.
Ain't that the truth? You do have one violation on the inspection report.
The failure to have your emergency response guide information with you.
Right.
Um, sign right there for me, please.
There's three copies, so please sign all three.
It was right of them to do what they did.
They're just doing a job.
I guess it more hurts my pride that I didn't have everything I need, 'cause I usually do.
I usually have everything right, ducks in a row.
It's still a mark, and that mark's gonna stay with me now for, like, three more years, I think.
Coming up, Hugh makes a big move.
Any sudden movements, and we're in the ditch, I'll guarantee you that.
And Alex ups the ante.
Il go $100.
Midnight, prudhoe bay.
Is that all you had for paperwork? That's it.
Aw, you got the van.
Yeah.
Most of the day's loads have rolled in to the Carlile yard.
You said you got a ticket for not having the orange book in your car, but didn't I give you one? Yeah.
Well, how did you not have it? 'Cause I gave it back.
I said I didn't need it back till later.
I said it didn't matter.
Well, I just sped up the "later" so I wouldn't forget.
Then I end up getting pulled over not having it and needing it, 'cause I couldn't find one in my truck.
It's funny, isn't it? No.
You should have kept it.
Uh, well, in hindsight, yeah.
the polar bear is still trucking.
I'm just cooking on her tonight.
We got to get rid of the lead weight around my neck, Holding me down.
And early-morning run-in with the d.
O.
T You were breaking the speed limit laws.
Forced Hugh to slow down.
I gotta do everything according to [Bleep.]
The rulebook.
If he wants to win the dash for the cash, he's going to have to do it without breaking the You know, I just gotta go a little A little steadier, a little harder, and, uh, sooner or later that's how I always catch up and get an extra load on 'em.
But old habits die hard.
Come on! Or get off the pot.
Let's [Bleep.]
Move it.
This guy's riding his brakes for some reason.
Hate guys that touch their brakes all the time, 'cause you don't know what they must be almost unsure.
And you gotta stay half a mile apart on ice.
You cannot be doing that.
The roads are slipperier than hell.
I can't stop, I can't slow down, so the next best thing to do is speed up.
Hang onto your ass with both hands.
We're going in.
Hugh is trying to shoot through a ten-foot-wide gap with an eight-foot-wide truck.
Any sudden movements, and we're in the ditch, I'll guarantee you that.
Come on! Come on, stick with it.
Baby, you can do it.
Come on.
You get a little bit excited? I [Bleep.]
Love it.
Makes the heart go a little bit faster, and Hugh heads to prudhoe with his 17th load, but he's only got a week left to make a run at the rookie.
With the end of the season in sight, the ice road truckers take time to catch up before the final push to the finish line.
Thank you.
It's really good pulled pork.
And it doesn't take long for the load count competition to surface.
I'll bet you I'll haul as many or more loads as you guys this year.
I'll go $100.
Why don't you start out slow? As long as it is not a race of any sort, just a cumulative count towards the end.
Sure.
At the bottom of the load board, Greg is quick to offer a different spin on the bet.
I'll change it on you a bit.
Instead of making it a bet for the loads, all the money goes to a beer fund so we can sit around after we're all back home safe and just blow a bunch of money on anything we want.
I say it's 100 bucks to the beer fund.
Beer fund? Yep, and whoever wins has to go since they made the most loads, they gotta go pick up all the beer.
I'm just gonna drink.
I'm thinking, so I'm holding onto the beer money.
What do you guys think? I probably trust you.
I think so.
That ought to work.
All right.
You look trustworthy.
So hand it over.
You can hold mine.
So where's your buddy, uh, Hugh? Well, we're gonna be calling Hughie here, since you got 500 in the pot.
Let's see if we can make it 600.
Hughie, my short-peckered friend, how are you? We just made a bet about who's gonna make then most loads, and, uh, that's None of that cheap Canadian stuff, eh? So you're gonna be in for Okay, bye.
Be safe about it.
Get there in one piece.
Make sure everybody gets back.
Sounds good.
Make some money.
I like the money part.
Well, I'm gonna go home and rest up.
See you guys out on the road tomorrow.
Soon as I stand up, I might fall over.
Next, on the season finale of ice road truckers So I got more loads than anybody else.
I'm pretty proud of myself.
Rookie ray races to defend his lead.
Let me around.
That.
But the ice road veterans Hold on for the ride.
Aren't going down without a fight.
The throne is empty right now.
That's up for grabs as far as I'm concerned.
As the battle to be king of the haul road reaches the boiling point.
Burnt out.
Ray [Bleep.]
With my safety.
War now.