Six Alaskan coastal communities are expected to see significant investments in dock, harbor and port infrastructure.
Alaskan Republican Senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan and Rep. Mary Sattler Peltola (D-Alaska) on Nov. 13 announced that the communities are anticipated to receive more than $104 million in grants via annual appropriations and the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) for port, harbor and dock-related development and upgrades.
“Alaska is a resource-rich but infrastructure-poor state,” Sullivan explained. “With more coastline than the rest of the United States combined, maritime infrastructure is critical to our state. Due to Alaska’s geographic isolation, our residents have an increased reliance on port projects. These same projects are a challenge to fund as they often have higher costs to construct and serve smaller populations.”
Grants include:
- $50 million to the Cargo Terminal 1 Replacement Project in Anchorage to pay for the building of a new general purpose cargo terminal at the Port of Alaska. The grant would fund demolishing the current terminal, building the trestle and wharf structure, installing terminal facilities and other work.
- $11.1 million to the Aurora Harbor Drive Down Float Project in Juneau, which aims to construct a drive down float and vehicle bridge and include a pair of new 5-ton electric cranes to support the commercial fishing fleet and freight transportation.
- $11.2 million to the Port of Dillingham Improvements Project, which pays for replacing the Dillingham Boat Harbor float system and utilities, expanding the north bulkhead dock and adding a new boat grid, among other work.
- $11.2 million for the Saint Herman Harbor Moorage Expansion Project in Kodiak, which seeks to add to the harbor’s berthing capacity for big commercial fishing vessels and support craft, among other upgrades.
- $11 million for the City South Dock Renovations and New Berthing Dolphins Project in Saint Paul.
- $9.4 million for the Marine Industrial Center Cargo Dock in Hoonah, which involves upgrading a cargo dock with sheet pile closed cell bulkhead, fender piles, concrete RoRo ramp and other improvements.
“The efficiency and capacity of our ports is integral to the prosperity of our coastal communities, as well as the state of Alaska as a whole,” Murkowski said. “With so many communities across the state inaccessible by road, ports are essential to our supply chain and distributing key resources that Alaskans need. I applaud the Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration for their substantial investments in a diverse range of improvements to port infrastructure in six communities across the state.”
