Alaskan Pipeline

The Trans-Alaskan Pipeline was an important oil pipeline cutting through Alaska down into the continental United States.

Background
During the Resource Wars, the U.S. established the Anchorage front line to protect its pipeline and all of the oil from any outside attack. When the Chinese invaded Alaska in the winter of 2066, the Americans fought back with their new superweapon, power armor, and the Trans-Alaska Pipeline was reclaimed.Fallout 3 Official Game Guide Game of the Year Edition p.43: "Operation: Anchorage Factions" "Chinese Army (Simulated)" "U.S. Army (Simulated)" ''"With conditions deteriorating between the United States and China, a military presence in Alaska was established to prevent a possible invasion across the Bering Strait. With increasingly scarce oil reserves, a last deep-sea deposit below the Pacific Ocean was claimed by China before allegedly being sabotaged by American special operatives. Strained relationships spiraled downward into conflict as China marched on Alaska, and the Sino-American War of 2066—2077 erupted. Under the command of General Jingwei, the Chinese Army usurped control of Alaska's oil pipeline and reserves. In response, the Americans began what came to be called "The Alaskan Reclamation Operation" (2067—2077). Under the leadership of General Constantine Chase, the U.S. Army battled fiercely to the front lines of the conflict before Chase began deploying specialized Power Armor units that began pushing the Chinese back. Future Power Armor suits were further refined as the conflict dragged on, and the Trans-Alaska Pipeline was reclaimed. With resources flowing through Canada, strained diplomatic tensions between Canada and the United States becoming problematic, and Canadian forces attacking the pipeline, the country was annexed. A combination of inclement weather, constant American bombardment and trench warfare, and U.S. Powered Armor unit attacks sweeping through mainline China, the Chinese supply lines weakened and finally broke down completely. By the beginning of 2077, the city of Anchorage was finally liberated, the Chinese eradicated, and the operation deemed a success. A commemorative memorial was erected in Washington, D.C., in honor of the soldiers who fought and perished for the greater American good. Violence between America and pockets of Canadian freedom fighters continued throughout 2077, until the Great War obliterated almost all infrastructure, commerce, and human life."'' (Fallout 3 Official Game Guide faction profiles) A section of the pipeline traveled through Canada, and it was the pipelines near sabotage that prompted the official military annexation of Canada.

After the Great War, the Trans-Alaska Pipeline was used by the Brotherhood of Steel as a protected supply line, to transport prisoners and supplies safely through the dangerous wasteland. The Cause destroyed the pipeline as they traveled through the Northwest Commonwealth and Canada.

Appearances
The Trans-Alaska Pipeline appears in the Fallout 3 add-on Operation: Anchorage, and was to appear in the canceled Fallout Extreme. It is mentioned in Fallout, Fallout 2, and Fallout 3.

Behind the scenes

 * In real life, there is no direct pipeline from Alaska to the continental United States. The actual "Alaskan Pipeline" goes from Prudhoe Bay Oil Field on the northern coast of Alaska to Valdez on the southern coast of Alaska. At Valdez, the oil is loaded into tankers to be transported to the mainland United States, bypassing Canada entirely.
 * The differing route of the pipeline in the Fallout universe can plausibly be attributed to the Divergence, as the pipeline in the real world only began construction in 1973, with a Canadian route being deemed too environmentally unfriendly to be considered.