Alaska's engineering wonders.

• Position: Engineering achievements - Engineers Week: Turning Ideas Into Reality

Across this northern frontier, from a new elementary school in Barrow to a remodeled salmon hatchery near Juneau, engineering marvels are improving the quality of life for Alaskans.

Drive down a highway to the grocery store. Watch a plane land at the airport. Switch on a computer.

You do dozens of routine tasks like these every day, but have you ever stopped to think of the engineering innovations that made your chore easier?

Here in Alaska, the cold, rugged climate forces engineers to create new technologies to solve old problems. In the list below, you'll view a panoramic picture of the diverse projects done by Alaska's engineering companies -- and get an idea of how these innovations made life in Alaska a lot more enjoyable.

The August 1992 eruption of Mount Spurr showed that Anchorage needed more water. The multi-million dollar Anchorage Water and Wastewater Utility Airport Water Project will come on-line in late 1993, providing access to a 5-million gallon steel reservoir located at Kincaid Park. FPE/Roen Engineers Inc. served as the prime consultant for engineering design, specifications and construction support of the project.

To solve the floor problems at the Sullivan Arena, Golder Associates investigated soil and groundwater conditions and recommended solutions. The repair alternative: Build a new floor slab on pipe piles, and leave a gap between the slab and ground to allow for runoff of soil and water.

The Federal Aviation Administration's Anchorage air traffic control tower promises to be an engineer's dream. It will contain fiber optic cables for communication, new generators that provide five times the current power, high-resolution terminals to track aircraft, and two new satellite stations for communicating with remote sites.

The Usibelli Coal Mine in Healy is Alaska's premier coal mine. By 1995, the facility will operate with a state-of-the-art coal-fired power plant, which will be one of the cleanest coal-burning power plants in the world.

Looking for new ways to clean up arctic oil spills, Arco Alaska Inc. asked Woodward-Clyde Consultants to try bioremediation -- tiny micro-organisms -- to do the job. A three-year study showed that the process can be performed on-site and may be the most efficient and cost-effective choice for cleaning fragile tundra soil.

Only at Anchorage Reprographics Center can customers find a new DocuTech Production Publishing system, which scans and reshapes photos in seconds, or a new laser...