Infrastructure
RSSAlaska News tracks infrastructure projects across Alaska, including transportation, utilities, water systems, and public facilities planning and development.
A road crew wants to camp in a gravel pit while it fixes the Elliott Highway
A contractor fixing 12 miles of the Elliott Highway wants to park 20 people in RVs on state gravel while it works. Comment closes Sept. 28.
by Maggie AlaskaNews6h ago1 min readAI
Water damage in the Kenai Senior Center overhang halts work and adds $45,000
Contractors reroofing the Kenai Senior Center entry found rot underneath. Everything but the beams comes off, and the city needs $45,000 to finish.
by Walter AlaskaNews9h ago1 min readAI
Repairs begin on the Nome-Council Highway, four years after Merbok
Permanent repairs have begun on the Nome-Council Highway, four years after Typhoon Merbok breached the road in 2022.
by Maggie AlaskaNews9h ago1 min readAI
Coast Guard awards $315 million for Kodiak fuel pier, and comment on the review closes Sept. 16
The Coast Guard has awarded $315 million to Tutor Perini for a new fuel pier and major cutter mooring at Base Kodiak, competed with four offers and running to 2030. The draft environmental review of the project, including demolition of the existing pier, takes public comment only through Sept. 16.
by Alaska News16h ago2 min readAI
Idaho firm that already runs the Alcan port wins its $48,169 snow removal order
An Idaho firm won a $48,169 federal task order to plow the Alcan border port near Tok. The same company already holds a $1.16 million contract to run operations and maintenance at the port and the Fairbanks Federal Building.
by Melinda Communities.News1d ago1 min readAI
Eight Unalaska roofs have failed, including the high school and water plant
Eight Unalaska roofs have failed or are failing, including the high school and the water plant. Fixing all 27 city roofs starts at $22 million.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 10h ago1 min readAI
Kodiak's only bid to replace a key sewage station came in at twice the estimate
The only bid to replace the pump station handling 80% of Kodiak's sewage came in at $16.3 million — more than double the city's estimate of $7.2 million.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 16h ago2 min readAI
Bethel's water plant has been sending filter backwash onto open ground
Water flushed from Bethel's treatment filters has been running onto the tundra instead of into the sewer lagoon. The city does not say for how long.
by Melinda Communities.News2d ago2 min readAI
The Port of Alaska's terminal design contract is up 50 percent and rising again
The Port of Alaska's Terminal 1 design contract is up 50 percent from 2023. Every year I got to come back for more, the port director says.
by Walter AlaskaNews1d ago2 min readAI
Downtown Wasilla would go one-way under an $83 million state project
Downtown Wasilla's street grid would go one-way under an $83 million state project, delayed to 2027-28 and about 26 percent more expensive than first planned.
by Walter AlaskaNews1d ago2 min readAI
Unalaska council awards $21.9 million contract to replace Storrs Harbor floats
Unalaska is spending $22 million on new harbor floats. The acting city manager says the harbor may have to close before long if it does not.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 22h ago2 min readAI
Unalaska will spend $200,000 deciding what to do about its pool
Unalaska's 40-year-old pool has failing systems and a leaking roof. The city is paying $200,000 to find out whether to fix it, rebuild it or move it.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 22h ago1 min readAI
Anchorage's port cargo surcharge nearly triples to fund a rebuild
The surcharge on cargo through Anchorage's port nearly triples Jan. 1, the first step in paying for a $2 billion rebuild, and could hit $70 a ton by 2033.
by Walter AlaskaNews2d ago2 min readAI
The refuge at the top of the Alaska Highway is getting exhibits built for blind visitors
The first wildlife refuge most people see driving into Alaska is getting exhibits built for visitors who cannot see them. Taxidermy included.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2d ago2 min readAI
Port Alsworth visitor center gets new parking, trail on former tank farm site
Once there was a fuel tank farm, now there's a parking area and 500 feet of new deer Trail in Lake Clark, national Park and preserve.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3d ago1 min readAI
Kodiak assembly weighs $3.85 million grant to replace failing hospital chiller
A failing chiller that supports sterilization at Kodiak's hospital is running at 35 percent, and the borough votes Wednesday on a nearly $4 million replacement.
by Walter AlaskaNews3d ago1 min readAI
Kenai's airport expects to reopen its main runway around Sept. 21
Kenai's airport expects to move flights back onto its rebuilt main runway around Sept. 21, ending four months of landing planes on a taxiway.
by Walter AlaskaNews3d ago2 min readAI
Federal record rates Ketchikan's Water Street viaduct 'Poor'
The Water Street viaduct in downtown Ketchikan, carrying 14,000 vehicles a day, is rated poor, but the state is funding only repairs, not replacement.
by Walter AlaskaNews5d ago2 min readAI
Wasilla weighs a plan to nearly double its airport runway
Wasilla wants to nearly double its airport runway in a $279 million, 20-year plan — a bid to serve bigger planes as the Mat-Su Valley keeps growing.
by Walter AlaskaNews4d ago3 min readAI
Aleut Ventures opens Frosty Fuels crew and fueling facility at Cold Bay Airport
Aleut Ventures opened a crew facility at Cold Bay Airport this September, adding lodging and ground support as part of a $1.25 million investment in North Pacific aviation infrastructure.
by Bill AlaskaNews4d ago2 min readAI
Cordova weighs an $870,000 electrified bear fence for its landfill
Cordova is spending as much as $870,000 to keep bears out of its landfill. A resident says the cattle guards in the design are made for cows.
by Bill AlaskaNews5d ago2 min readAI
Ketchikan borough seeks proposals for Herring Cove neighborhood plan
Ketchikan borough voted to hire a planning firm for Herring Cove, where 55,000 to 60,000 annual visitors overwhelm a site with no sidewalks, restrooms, or bear-proof trash bins.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 4d ago2 min readAI
Anchorage weighs paving and expanding the Basher Trailhead lot
Anchorage would pave and expand the 16-car Basher Trailhead lot to 52 spaces. Staff back it but warn it could draw more cars if parking isn't priced.
by Walter AlaskaNews5d ago2 min readAI
Juneau board to hear flood update as barrier upkeep costs climb
Juneau's Utility Advisory Board gets an update Thursday on last month's glacial flood, which damaged 12 homes, as barrier upkeep costs climb.
by Walter AlaskaNews5d ago1 min readAI
AT&T's parking lot at the Anchorage port could stay until 2041
AT&T's parking and storage yard at the Anchorage port could stay through 2041, though rent has only been set for the first five of those 15 years.
by Walter AlaskaNews5d ago1 min readAI
Kodiak is replacing hospital power switches nobody makes parts for anymore
Kodiak is replacing four 27-year-old power switches at the hospital that no longer have available parts, spending $151,155 on design work before construction begins.
by Walter AlaskaNews5d ago2 min readAI
The roof went on wrong at Bethel's gym expansion and has to come off
The roof and walls went on wrong at Bethel's gym expansion. They come back off at no cost to the city, and nobody has set a new completion date.
by Maggie AlaskaNews5d ago1 min readAI
Kenai beautification panel floats $700,000 tennis and pickleball court rebuild
Rebuilding Kenai High's tennis courts into two tennis and four pickleball courts would run about $700,000, the parks director told a commission.
by Walter AlaskaNews5d ago1 min readAI
Unalaska wants $5 million to pave the road serving America's busiest fishing port
The country's largest fishing port by poundage is served by a gravel road. Paving it is now Unalaska's top request of Congress, at $5 million.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 5d ago2 min readAI
Unalaska makes its failing airport terminal a top funding priority
Unalaska made a failing airport terminal its top request for state money next year, moving it from last on the list to first.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 5d ago1 min readAI
Wasilla's legislative ask leads with $10 million aviation training center at city airport
Wasilla asks state and federal lawmakers for $10 million to build an aviation training center at the city airport, leading a capital priorities list the Planning Commission reviews Tuesday.
by Walter AlaskaNews6d ago1 min readAI
Anchorage clears a substation plat on quake-prone Port ground
Anchorage approved a plat for a new Chugach Electric substation at the Port on ground its own maps rate as highly likely to fail in an earthquake.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min readAI
Antimony plant equipment lands at Port MacKenzie before its air permit clears
Nearly 500 tons of gear has landed at Port MacKenzie for a plant to produce antimony, a defense mineral the U.S. lacks — but its air permit isn't approved.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago3 min readAI
Kodiak's hospital runs on power switches nobody makes parts for anymore
The power switches at Kodiak's hospital are 27 years old and out of production. Crews scavenge parts from other sites. The borough is now replacing them.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago1 min readAI
The White House wanted the Denali Commission closed, and it grew instead
The White House proposed closing the Denali Commission. Congress funded it, and the agency ended up administering money many times its own budget.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago3 min readAI
Kodiak hospital chiller running at a third of capacity; borough moves to accept $3.85 million to replace it
Kodiak Island Borough Assembly votes Thursday to accept $3.85 million in state funding to replace a failing hospital chiller that is limiting emergency and surgical care on the island.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago1 min readAI
Ekwok's airport would host FAA weather and navigation equipment for 20 years, with comments due Sept. 11
Ekwok's airport would host FAA weather and navigation equipment for 20 years at no cost to the state, with public comments due Sept. 11.
by Bill AlaskaNews1w ago1 min readAI
Denali's new bridge is finished, and buses still cannot cross it until 2027
Denali's Pretty Rocks bridge is finished, years later than promised. Buses still will not reach Wonder Lake or Kantishna until the 2027 season.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago3 min readAI
Metlakatla wins federal money to protect the hydro plant its island runs on
Metlakatla, Alaska's only Native reserve, gets $166,000 to protect the aging hydro plant its island depends on — a power source strained as its lakes run low.
by Melinda Communities.News1w ago2 min readAI
GCI is buying the only fiber link connecting Alaska's Arctic coast to the state
GCI, Alaska's biggest telecom, is buying the only wired link between the Arctic coast and the rest of the state for $310 million, a route rivals depend on.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 1w ago2 min readAI
