State estimates up to $500,000 for Skagway avalanche forecaster

The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities' Southcoast Region issued a request for proposals Thursday for an avalanche forecaster on the Klondike Highway above Skagway. The contract would run up to five winters, and the department estimates it will cost $250,000 to $500,000. Proposals are due at 4 pm. The solicitation documents list two different deadlines, Oct. 28 and Oct. 29.

The contractor would cover mileposts 6 to 14 from Dec. 1 to May 15 each year. Duties include forecasting hazard daily, digging snow pits in starting zones, recommending road closures and working with the department's lead gunner on avalauncher missions. Bidders need American Avalanche Association Professional Level 1 certification or an equivalent professional membership, plus two years of operational snow-blasting experience. The first term ends June 30, 2027, with four state-only renewal options running through June 30, 2031.

A 2020 request for the same eight-mile stretch capped pay at $45,000 a year and weighted cost at 40 percent of the scoring. The new request for proposals weighs price at zero. It weighs methods and proposed staff at 20 percent each, and gives an Alaska bidder preference worth 10 percent. That preference must drop to zero if federal money is involved, though the form lists no federal project number. The instructions still require price proposals for work that needs no licensed architect, engineer or surveyor.

The not-to-exceed total for 2026 through 2031 is printed as "$XXX" in the document. The estimated cost range appears beside the first term's dates, without stating whether it covers that term alone or all five years. Separate sections list three different start dates: Oct. 1, Nov. 15 and Dec. 1.

The 2020 request said the highway's Avalanche Hazard Index rose from near 50 in a 1987 study to above 100 by April 2013, as daily traffic grew from 150 to 750 vehicles. "Acceptable standards and prudence dictate that any roadway where the avalanche hazard index approaches or exceeds one hundred be watched by a full time avalanched specialist," the department wrote at the time. It warned that going without one risked "injury or death to crew, public road users and search and rescue personnel."

The new solicitation promises a 2023 Highway Safety Improvement Program hazard study but does not attach it. The 2020 contract offered renewal options through Aug. 31, 2025, followed by month-to-month holdover. State records do not show who held that contract, whether it was renewed, or who covered the corridor last winter.

Proposals go to [email protected]. Jenny Huntley, chief of contracts, is taking questions at 907-465-4420.