AIDEA looks at modular bridges used at Red Dog Mine for the proposed Ambler road

Board members and staff of the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority toured modular steel bridges at Red Dog Mine last week as the state authority considers the technology for the 211-mile industrial road it wants built to the Ambler Mining District.

The bridges, made by the company Acrow, are assembled on site from prefabricated steel parts. In a Sept. 30 release, AIDEA said Acrow's technology is being evaluated for the proposed Ambler Access Project and could offer efficient installation, adaptable design and potential savings in construction time and cost. The release doesn't say how many bridges the road would need or what the system would cost.

The tour was part of AIDEA's regular board meeting in Kotzebue, where board members and staff also met with Northwest Arctic Borough officials about workforce development. AIDEA financed and developed the road and port that serve Red Dog, and its leaders presented the mine as a model. Board Chairman Bill Kendig called Red Dog one of the clearest examples of how "strategic infrastructure investment can unlock economic opportunity."

AIDEA estimates the two-lane Ambler road would cost $350 million to build, plus $8 million to $10 million a year to operate and maintain, and its board has set aside $50 million for the project.

The road remains contested. The Bureau of Land Management chose not to approve it in June 2024, ending AIDEA's federal right-of-way. President Trump approved AIDEA's appeal of that decision on Oct. 6, 2025, and the bureau reissued the 50-year right-of-way Oct. 21.

The account of the trip is AIDEA's own and includes no comment from Acrow, Kuna Engineering, NANA or the road's opponents.