Building boom! Alaska will see nearly $5 billion of construction work this year.

• Author: Campbell, Melissa
• Position: Industry Overview - Statistical Data Included

They say Alaska has two seasons--winter and construction. With the snow gone, our other season promises to be a busy one, with about $4.7 billion in construction projects this year, according to a rough estimate gathered by the Association of General Contractors of Alaska. That's up from last year's estimated $4.4 billion.

"If you don't look at the pipeline years, this will be the best construction year in history," said Dick Cattanach, AGC's executive director.

Here is a look at some of Alaska's construction projects scheduled for this year.

U.S. CORPS OF ENGINEERS

The U.S. Corps of Engineers plans to spend about $413.5 million in Alaska this year.

* Fort Wainwright is replacing its 50-year-old Bassett Army Hospital. Site work for the 32-bed, 269,000-square-foot facility was done last year. Construction on the hospital is set to begin this month and will be completed in June 2006. Total cost is $215 million. The hospital will serve an estimated 25,000 people--military, dependents and retirees-from Fort Wainwright; Fort Greely, Eielson Air Force Base and several remote military sites north of the Alaska Range.

* Major renovations and upgrades will continue on the 50-year-old power plant at Fort Wainwright. The plant serves about 10,000 people on the base, and has caused concern about outages in this cold-weather environment. The plant also violates Clean Air Act standards and requirements of the Occupational Safety and Health Association. When work is completed in 2005, particulate emissions will be filtered before entering the atmosphere and waste heat will be eliminated in a safe manner. Work is expected to top $50 million.

* Other major construction projects include new barracks at Fort Richardson (around $10 million), a fuel system hanger at Elmendorf Air Force Base ($5 million to $10 million) and the Ground-Based Missile Defense Program (see story on page 60).

ALASKA DEPT. OF TRANSPORTATION AND PUBLIC FACILITIES

DOT is divided into three regions. Combined the department will spend about $457 million around the state this year, Cattanach estimates. Projects range from a few thousand dollars to nearly $50 million, and covers roadways, airports and other state-owned facilities.

Many of the planned projects had not been advertised by press time, so costs are listed in ranges.

NORTHERN REGION

The Dalton Highway--often referred to as the Haul Road--is 400 miles of dusty, gravel road from just north of Fairbanks to Deadhorse and is the only way to the oil fields of Prudhoe Bay. New pavement will make the trip more comfortable and will eliminate the need to wet the road to cut down the dust, says Paul Prusak of the state Department of Transportation's northern region.

Paving and other upgrades to the road started last year at miles 111 to 144 and at miles 335 to 362 and should be completed this season. The work from miles 175 to 209 and miles 362 to 413 are scheduled for bidding in October...