Whittier wins largest federal port grant as Alaska projects take nearly $105 million

The U.S. Maritime Administration on Tuesday awarded $50.6 million to replace Whittier's DeLong Dock, a 73-year-old dock built by the Army. It was the largest of the 35 port grants the agency announced nationwide.

Six Alaska projects won nearly $105 million in all, more than any other state. The rest of the money went to a Kodiak boat harbor, Nome's Arctic port expansion, a cargo dock in Kake, new buildings for dockworkers at the Port of Alaska in Anchorage and early design of a new port in Unalaska.

The same program awarded $115.4 million to seven Alaska port projects in April, bringing the state's total from the program this year to about $220 million.

The city of Whittier said in an April announcement that the dock "has reached the end of its usable life." Inspections found "critical corrosion, significant section loss in support piles" and "seismic vulnerabilities that would likely result in failure during a major earthquake," the city said.

The dock carries Prince William Sound seafood to market and supports nearly 17% of the city's annual operating budget, according to the city.

Whittier's capital improvement plan puts the current estimate for the project at $57 million. That includes $4.1 million for design that the city won from the same program in April.

The new grant covers a sheet pile bulkhead roughly 1,150 feet long, new fendering, a seasonal floating dock, three pedestal cranes and about 2.5 acres of staging area.

Kodiak's $26.07 million is for St. Herman Harbor on Near Island, one of the city's two main boat harbors. It has moorage for more than 328 vessels. A March federal notice said much of the harbor's infrastructure is more than 40 years old and deteriorating. The grant would replace floating piers J, K and L and add electrical, sewer pump-out and fire suppression systems.

Nome's $11.25 million would pay for dredging berths and for road work along the extended causeway, work the award says is needed to support the larger port expansion. Crews began demolition in September on that expansion, meant to create the nation's first Arctic deep-draft port.

At the Don Young Port of Alaska in Anchorage, $6.39 million would replace deteriorated wharf buildings with two shoreside buildings for stevedores, the workers who load and unload ships. In April, the municipality won $4.7 million to plan a replacement for its damaged fuel terminal.

In Kake, $6.29 million would pay for a cargo dock with a steel pipe float, a covered aluminum gangway and a float-mounted crane.

Unalaska's $4.4 million, Alaska's only planning award, would take the Ounalashka Arctic and North Pacific Maritime Hub, a new port the award says would complement Dutch Harbor, to 35% design.