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Glite Dictionary
Trans-Alaska Pipeline System

Trans-Alaska Pipeline System

1 4.9
A major oil pipeline that runs about 800 miles across Alaska from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez
  • noun
translation icon : Sistema de oleoducto Trans-Alaska
  • The Trans-Alaska Pipeline has been subject to several amateurish attacks that have taken it briefly out of commission; a seriously planned attack on it could be far more devastating.
  • Trans-Alaska Pipeline System
  • Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS)
  • terminus of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System

Examples

  • The Trans-Alaska Pipeline System is an engineering marvel, designed to withstand extreme temperatures and earthquakes.

  • The Trans-Alaska Pipeline is currently operating at only about one-third capacity, and throughput is dropping steadily.

    Blog text (24)

  • The Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act of 1973 (TAPAA) made the pipeline owners liable for the full costs of controlling and removing any pollution caused by pipeline operations.

    Academic text (1998)

  • The refuge boundary lies roughly 75 miles east of Prudhoe Bay, the site of the largest single oil field in the United States, and the northern terminus of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS), which carries North Slope oil south to the port of Valdez.

    Academic text (1991)

  • The refuge boundary lies roughly 75 miles east of Prudhoe Bay, the site of the largest single oil field in the United States, and the northern terminus of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS), which carries North Slope oil south to the port of Valdez.

    Academic text (1991)

  • The Trans-Alaska Pipeline System transports crude oil across 800 miles of rugged Alaskan terrain to the port of Valdez.

  • Constructed in the late 1970s, the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System plays a crucial role in the U.S. oil supply chain.

Synonyms

trans-Alaska pipeline
vsTrans-Alaska Pipeline System
1 4.5

A long pipe that carries oil about 800 miles from northern Alaska to the port of Valdez

is the full official name used for the same oil line
Alaskan pipeline
vsTrans-Alaska Pipeline System
1 3.7

An oil pipe in Alaska that runs about 800 miles from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez

is the formal official name rather than a regional label

Surface Forms

Trans-Alaska Pipeline System singular

Morphology

Trans-Alaska + pipeline + system

The phrase is fully compositional: 'Trans-Alaska' denotes across/through Alaska (trans- + Alaska) and combined with 'pipeline' and 'system' yields a pipeline system that runs across Alaska. This is a literal, descriptive name so a learner who knows the constituent meanings can readily infer the overall meaning.

Etymology

Trans-Alaska Pipeline System gets its name from what it does: in the 1970s people built a very long pipe to carry oil across Alaska. The parts Trans ('across'), Pipeline ('a long pipe for oil') and System ('connected parts that work together') show the simple, literal image, so the name means 'a major oil pipeline crossing Alaska'.