Forest Service seeks bids to replace three outhouses on Copper River Highway near Cordova

The U.S. Forest Service is seeking a contractor to replace three outhouses along the Copper River Highway east of Cordova. Quotations are due Oct. 6. The notice is a request for quotation, not a sealed bid.

The work covers two single-vault toilets at Mile 18.1 and Mile 18.2 and one double-vault outhouse at the Alaganik Slough recreation area. Only small businesses may quote. The Forest Service estimates the value at $1 million to $5 million, with the contract running from Oct. 30 through Sept. 30, 2027.

Five option items, exercised at the agency's discretion, include two sheltered picnic structures at Alaganik Slough, one at Mile 22 with aggregate for its picnic structure and parking area, one new camping pad with parking, and the widening of three existing parking pads plus regrading of four existing camping pads.

Alaganik Slough sits about 19 miles east of Cordova in the Chugach National Forest's Cordova Ranger District. The Forest Service describes the site as offering "4 picnic/camping sites, firepits, pit toilets, bear-proof garbage, and a boat launch," with a 900-foot wheelchair-accessible boardwalk, restrooms and viewing shelters that visitors with mobility limitations rely on.

An earlier Alaska Region project list showed an Alaganik Slough Recreation Site Renovation with anticipated funding of $300,000 and completion in 2024.

The solicitation is funded under the Great American Outdoors Act, enacted in 2020 to create the Legacy Restoration Fund for priority deferred maintenance on federal lands. The Forest Service receives 15 percent of annual deposits, capped at $1.9 billion. The Tongass National Forest drew $23.5 million from the fund in fiscal 2024.

A separate Forest Service solicitation, Sand Trail Phase II, covers repair of the first 1.70 miles of Trail 229 with bank armoring and aggregate.

Questions are due to Paula Sales at [email protected] and [email protected] by noon Alaska time on Sept. 29. Companies must hold prices firm for 90 days.