Coast Guard orders $315 million fuel pier and cutter berths at Base Kodiak

The Coast Guard is spending heavily at Base Kodiak this year. Its latest order, $315 million for a new fuel pier with room for two of its largest cutters, brings the service's big Kodiak construction orders this year to about $458 million, all to the same contractor.

The new pier will take fuel deliveries and provide up to two berths for major cutters, the Coast Guard said Sept. 23. Adm. Kevin Lunday, the Coast Guard's commandant, said the project "delivers the capabilities we need" to secure the northern border and Arctic approaches.

The order went to Tutor Perini Corp. of Sylmar, California, which will design and build the pier for a fixed price, according to federal spending records. The order was signed Sept. 11 and drew four offers, and the work is scheduled to run through September 2030.

It follows two orders to Tutor Perini in May for Base Kodiak's families: $81.8 million for 30 new homes in the Nemetz housing area and $61.6 million for a child development center designed for more than 200 children.

The Coast Guard said in June that it will base its first two Arctic Security Cutters in Kodiak, with the first expected in 2028. Its pier announcement didn't say which cutters would use the new berths.

The Coast Guard's environmental planning office lists a draft environmental assessment for the new pier, which it says would include tearing down the base's existing fuel pier. That older pier is being upgraded in the meantime under a separate $10 million contract with Palmer-based Ahtna Builders, which the Coast Guard extended to Nov. 30 because of delays from migratory birds nesting at the site.