Engineers Imagine Alaska: Year-Round Road Accessibility & Sustainable Energy: Engineering wish lists offer solutions to Alaska's transportation, energy, public health challenges.

• Author: Mottl, Judy
• Position: ENGINEERING

Imagine being an engineer. Now imagine being an engineer with an unlimited budget and the ability to fulfill even the wildest engineering dream. What projects top the wish lists of Alaska's engineering community? From sustainability and accessibility to advancing Alaska's potential through public health improvements, Alaskan engineers offer insight into their dream projects. As one might expect, these projects tend to focus on improvements designed to make everyday living in Alaska even better through upgrades to the transportation and public health systems as well as increased sustainable energy options.

More Roads and Less Ice

Doug Kenley's "magic wand" engineering project is roads "to provide better access to all of Alaska." Kenley's dream project increases access statewide, ultimately driving industry development. "More roads would spur a host of economic benefits for other industries," says Kenley, vice president and principal of PND Engineers.

The main hurdles to expanding Alaska's road system, he says, are permitting rules.

Kenley's vision is shared by Terry Bailey, senior vice president and regional director with CH2M, and Matt Lund, an electrical engineer with CRW Engineering Group.

"One of the most important things to consider when thinking about engineering in Alaska is transportation," says Lund. "The cost and time of transporting people and freight safely is always a huge factor in any Alaskan design since many villages are very remote and hard to access." He notes safety is always the first priority for an engineer, and one aspect of working in Alaska that constantly challenges safety is icy road conditions on state highways.

"There are many vehicle accidents on Alaskan highways each year due to ice and snow, and road salt and sand just aren't cutting it in some areas," Lund says.

Roadways and infrastructure are a focus for Bailey because Alaska is still a relatively young state in terms of infrastructure development.

"Connecting more of the state via upgraded and new roads and airports with advanced technology would allow easier access overall," says Bailey, who goes on to say many remote areas still have basic unmet needs, such as potable water and sustainable wastewater systems, and those needs could more easily be met with new or better transportation access.

"We have the needed energy resources that can help make this happen, we just need to tap those resources to benefit the state residents that make Alaska the great place to live that it is. In fact, affordable, reliable, and sustainable energy can make many other important infrastructure improvement projects possible," says...