Construction underway on Alaska highway prebuild

Construction has begun on two of the three projects that comprise the 1334 miles of new pipelines needed in the US prebuild phase of the Alaska Natural Gas Transportation System (ANGTS): (1) Northwest Pipeline Corp. started work in September 1980 on its 351-mile Pan-Alberta Project, an extension of the company's existing western system, and (2) in December 1980, Pacific Gas Transmission Co. began building the first 160 miles of the ANGTS's Western Leg. Northern Border Pipeline Co. plans to start construction in spring 1981 on an 823-mile section of the Eastern Leg. Once the two legs are completed they will begin carrying 1 billion CF/day of natural gas to US consumers in the West and Midwest prior to completion of the entire system; in addition to supplementing current energy needs, this early completion and use of the US sections should facilitate financing for the rest of the project, mitigate inflationary effects on the project costs, and ease labor and capital demands during construction.