New and improved airport runways: a key lifeline for rural Alaskans.

AuthorCottrell, Paula
PositionCONSTRUCTION

According to the Alaska Airports Association: "Alaska has 287 public use land-based airports, 44 heliports, and approximately 735 recorded landing areas (private, public, and military) total. Of course pilots land on many of the thousands of lakes and gravel bars across the state where no constructed facility exists."

Where constructed facilities do exist, though, ongoing maintenance and upgrades are required, many mandated by federal law.

Current Airport Construction Plans

Most of the funding for airport projects comes from the federal government but is administered by the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (DOT&PF) with planning, design, and engineering done through its three regions: Northern, Central, and Southeast.

DOT&PF expects to have about eighteen airport projects under construction in 2014 with a combined cost of nearly $333 million, more than two-thirds of that will be spent on rural projects. Six of the eighteen airport projects in Alaska for 2014 include Runway Safety Area (RSA) improvements.

Many of these projects had not been either advertised or awarded at press time in early April. Some projects have already been awarded and work will either continue or begin this year. Multi-million dollar, multi-year airport construction projects dot the map from Barrow to Ketchikan. Airport construction is an ongoing activity in Alaska.

Dan Hall, vice president and Alaska manager for Knik Construction, says they have been building airports in Alaska for thirty-five years and the key to successful airport construction is research.

"The biggest challenge that we face is logistics," Hall says. "Gravel has to be imported and can only be barged in during the summer months. Sometimes we need to travel down rivers that are having issues with low water, and we aren't able to get the barges in on time to stay on schedule."

Successfully bidding a rural airport construction project does come with a great deal of risk, he says.

"You have to do your homework and be very aware of the area you are working in and the potential obstacles you will likely face," Hall says. "These are fixed firm prices we are dealing with here, and there is not a lot of flexibility on the side of the owner in regards to change orders and unexpected expenses."

While most of the projects are in rural Alaska, the international airports in Anchorage and Fairbanks both have work slated.

A project at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport to...

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