Deadhorse Airport project halted by weather, nears drainage milestone

Crews remaking Deadhorse Airport's drainage system, runway aprons, and perimeter fencing will spend May 29 to June 4 idled by weather, the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities said Monday. The contractor is wrapping up insulation board placement, the layer that slows heat transfer from new pavement into the permafrost below, before fill work continues.

The pause is routine for the North Slope, where the construction window is short even in a good year. What's not routine is the scope of what's being rebuilt. The project, started in 2025 and slated to run into 2026, includes drainage improvements at the airport and along Deadhorse Drive (meltwater pooling over permafrost is one of the more persistent threats to Arctic pavement), along with new fill around the runway and apron, and a wildlife perimeter fence with a service road circling the airfield. Bird strikes and the occasional caribou are real aviation hazards on the tundra.

Deadhorse Airport is the air bridge for Prudhoe Bay, moving the workers, equipment, and cargo that keep the oil fields running. DOT&PF says the project is meant to resolve safety and compliance issues the agency has not publicly enumerated. The state's Northern Region is managing the work in partnership with the Federal Aviation Administration. As of mid-May, crews had installed about 3,500 feet of the wildlife fence.