Contractor barged in whole plants to repair King Salmon's military airfield

A North Pole construction company has finished repairing the military taxiway, apron and hardstand at King Salmon Airport. Because no road reaches King Salmon, it barged in the plants to make its own rock, concrete and asphalt.

HC Contractors shipped in a commercial asphalt plant, an industrial rock crusher, a concrete batch plant and a materials wash plant, its parent company, Ukpeaġvik Iñupiat Corporation, said Thursday. Crews crushed rock, mixed concrete and made asphalt on-site, then laid it straight onto the airfield.

"It's not every day that we barge in an asphalt, concrete and wash plant to complete a project," said Travis Malin, HC Contractors' general manager. The company usually works on the road system, he said.

In all, crews produced and placed 7,800 cubic yards of concrete and 11,400 tons of asphalt, the company said.

Getting it all there took a year of lead time. Bowhead Transport, a sister company also owned by the Utqiaġvik village corporation, brought the plants and heavy equipment to King Salmon in 2025, Malin said, so everything was staged and ready. "That let us complete the work in the 2026 season before freeze-up," he said.

King Salmon is the hub for the Bristol Bay region. Its airport supports 20 communities, is a key access point to Katmai National Park and is also used for Air Force training, according to a state fact sheet for the airport's master plan.

The job also included 900 feet of new 8-inch waterline, a new lining inside the existing sewer main, perimeter fencing, striping, and new airfield lighting, signs and fiber.

HC Contractors was the main subcontractor on the project, which supports the Air Force Civil Engineer Center. A federal contract database lists a $43.5 million subcontract to the company from prime contractor Gilbane Federal, dated Jan. 21, 2025, to repair the airfield aprons and two taxiways at King Salmon Air Station.