Where is Tuktoyaktuk?
Tamlin Homes recently shipped two custom Douglas Fir timber frame picnic shelters to the North West Territories (NT). If you are not familiar with this hamlet, Tuktoyaktuk is a small settlement with a population of about 1,000 and is the only community in Canada on the Arctic Ocean that is connected to the rest of the country by road. It is the farthest “north” that you can drive in Canada.
How do you Ship TWO 600 Square Foot Shelters on One Truck 3,700 km?
Tamlin’s precut Post and Beam structure was the perfect design for this project since the complete building could be shipped “knock” down to be reassembled on site. After test fitting and assembling the entire post and beam building, each timber was carefully labelled, inspected, and packaged. This reduced the volume and ensured that all materials were protected. After careful repackaging of all loads, both 600 square foot shelters fit into one truckload!
It usually takes three days to travel the 3,766 kilometer route, but a stopover was required to wait for the ice bridge traffic along the way, so delivery took a little longer. The final 120 km was made possible by travelling along the new Inuvik – Tuk highway which just opened in 2017. (Because the new highway now connects TUK with Inuvik, this will help reduce the costs of living, and also provide new tourism jobs for the local people and help create other employment).
For more information on the Tuktoyaktuk Highway click here.
Tamlin also designed and built custom timber picnic shelters for the City of West Vancouver.