The northern route would have cost $100 million a month more.

Most give the northern route a wide berth, since even with increasing melt the further north you go the more ice you encounter.

The northern route was used for delivering supplies, the southern for returning trucks.

Several rival routes emerged: a southern, a central, and a northern route.

On the road the distance covers 1120 km (southern route) or 1030 km (northern route).