Whittier gets $4.1 million in federal money to design a DeLong Dock replacement

The Maritime Administration obligated $4.07 million to the City of Whittier on Monday to plan, design and permit a replacement for the city's DeLong Dock. Under the award terms, the city must hold at least one public meeting in Whittier while the design is developed. The award record does not set a date.

The money comes from the agency's Port Infrastructure Development Program. Whittier's 2027-2036 capital improvement plan describes the 70-year-old dock as at the end of its usable life. The plan says the Port of Whittier handles a significant portion of Alaska's incoming marine cargo and that the dock is a critical but aged part of the seafood supply chain for fish harvested in Prince William Sound.

The award also requires the city to hold coordination meetings with the Alaska Railroad, seafood processors, the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, tribal and Native organizations and military stakeholders. Their needs are to be collected early and their feedback folded into a preferred design. The award record lists about $1.03 million in non-federal funding, for a total of about $5.1 million.

The work moves in stages. Crews will document site conditions, utilities and marine conditions, then do geotechnical borings, bathymetric surveys (seafloor depth measurements) and utility mapping. Engineers will weigh dock layouts and structural options for cost, constructability and resilience, then refine a preferred design, estimate construction phasing and costs, and deliver stamped plans ready for construction bids. The work runs through Aug. 28, 2029.

Environmental review includes documentation under the National Environmental Policy Act and permitting coordination with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, NOAA Fisheries, the State Historic Preservation Office and tribal consultation.

The design money is separate from a $50.6 million construction award. The city put the whole replacement at about $57 million in its capital plan, which schedules design for 2027 and construction for 2028. The city plans to hire a design firm, with a request for proposals for engineering and design expected by the end of 2026.

Harbormaster Dave Borg told the Port and Harbor Advisory Commission on Tuesday that the city may also hire someone to manage the award because "these grants are very technical, time-consuming, and finicky."

Nearby, the Alaska Railroad's Waterfront Reconstruction Study recommends rebuilding the railroad's own barge berth, transfer span and wharf bulkhead in place. That study lists the city-owned DeLong Dock as outside its scope.