Construction Alaska: 2001 and Beyond.

• Author: ORR, VANESSA

How will the construction industry affect you in the year 2001 and beyond? Whether you travel by boat, plane, train or automobile, live in a remote area or within one of the state's urban hubs, or have children in school, chances are you'll be coming in contact with one of the many projects slated for the new millennium.

The future looks promising for Alaska's construction industry, according to Richard Cattanach, executive director of the Associated General Contractors of Alaska. This year, Cattanach estimates that highway spending will increase 10 percent, to the tune of $285 million. Federal Aviation Administration improvements will pump $140 million into the state; Corps of Engineers projects, another $275 million.

Other government projects, which do not include state, military or school projects, will increase $6 million over last year's $107 million, while other military spending will remain roughly the same as last year's $150 million. A big increase this year will be seen in the school sector, however. Thanks to House Bill 281, $320 million will go toward work on schools and universities; rural schools will receive another $90 million from the Legislature. The Denali Commission, which funds capital projects in rural Alaska, will invest another $15 million into the state. And that's just the public sector!

A lot of communities will be seeing improvements in their areas as well, as companies continue to benefit from a flourishing economy. Wal-Mart and Home Depot are expanding their presence in the state, and tourism companies are upgrading their facilities to meet increasing customer demand. Companies like BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. and Phillips Alaska Inc. are investing heavily on the North Slope; Cattanach estimates that each will pump over $600 million into the economy. And while private-sector spending is difficult to estimate because companies don't like to release information for competitive reasons, Cattanach estimates that it will increase in 2001--up $50 million from last year's $450 million.

Home buyers will benefit from the construction boom, too; while an exact number of home starts is difficult to come by because most Alaska communities do not require the filing of building permits, Cattanach estimates that, conservatively, the residential market will add another $450 million to next year's construction budget.

This year looks like another banner year for the construction industry, with school, road, government, North Slope and other developments receiving billions in total funding.

Transportation

When you live in a state that covers 586,000 square miles, or is one-sixth the size of the United States, transportation is a big issue. There's a lot of land to cover, and a lot of maintenance that has to be done in order to keep transportation routes open. In addition, not all transportation concerns are limited to land--in Southeast Alaska, especially, most travel is done by air or by water.

"We're going to be keeping a lot of contractors busy this coming year," said Tom Brigham, planning director for the Alaska Department of Transportation, who predicts that $400 million will be spent statewide, not...