Construction 2000.

• Author: ORR, VANESSA
• Position: Alaska

A Retrospective on Statewide Construction

In the past 40 years, Alaska's economy has undergone numerous boom-and-bust periods, which have, in turn, affected the stability of the state's construction industry. Since Alaska became a state in 1959, there have been times of prosperity, which homes to be built for the state's rapidly increasing population, and projects of great magnitude, like the trans-Alaska oil pipeline, to come to fruition.

In turn, there have been times when economic factors, like the decreasing price of oil in the late 1980s, have forced the construction industry to endure hard times. It wasn't until the 1990s that the industry began to stabilize--a trend that is reflected in the first year of the 21st Century.

According to Richard Cattanach, executive director, Associated General Contractors of Alaska, 2000 was a good year for construction. The industry did see downturns in some areas. "On the highway side, work didn't come out as hoped," Cattanach explained. "That area was not as robust as we were expecting."

While there are a number of reasons why this might be the case, Cattanach credits part of the slowdown to the construction season. "Some of it is probably timing," he explained. "We have a very short construction season--roads are built from late April to October. If some of the projects didn't get out to bid until August or September, they won't get started until 2001." The numbers seem to bear this out: In 2000, the Department of Transportation spent roughly $250 million statewide, according to Cattanach; in 2001, the total is expected to increase by 10 percent.

Transportation

Some of the major projects on which the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities worked on in 2000 include the Gateway Alaska project and the Tongass Avenue/Third Street work in Ketchikan. Gateway Alaska includes the $350 million renovation and reconstruction of the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, which began in 1999. Airport highway improvements include changes to the primary access route to the airport to meet projected traffic demands, an interchange at International Airport Road and Minnesota Drive, and the widening of C Street to six lanes. The interchange is completed and the majority of the C Street widening project has been done.

Future improvements will include terminal redevelopment, which has already begun with the demolition of the old C Concourse in August of 1999. When finished, the new terminal building...