2003 Construction roundup: from Southeast to Fairbanks, construction projects abound in the state.

• Author: Bonham, Nicole A.
• Position: Special Section: Building Alaska

With warm weather and the summer construction season already ramping up to full force, Alaska communities around the state are poised for new roads and schools, airport improvements and commercial growth.

Alaska ended last year on a somewhat geophysically rocky note, with November's powerful quake damaging two main transportation arteries of the state. At the time, the state Department of Transportation suggested the damage caused by the 7.9 temblor would require roughly $20 million in construction improvements to the Richardson and Parks highways.

In an e-mail correspondence with Alaska Business Monthly, state economist Neal D. Fried suggested that Alaska will continue to see growth in construction, with much of the growth in the public sector.

"It appears that this will be another strong year for construction. The strengths are all in public-funded construction. Highways look very strong, along with the military. There is lots of public school and university construction in Fairbanks. The weakness will be in commercial and oil-related construction-there is little planned in the oil sector and there are no large retail or office building construction (projects) really slated for 2003. Residential appears to be another repeat of the previous year. It looks like construction employment will continue to grow some, keeping it on that long, steady growth path it has been on for over a decade."

Smaller projects around the state will mean considerable improvements and new construction on a local level this summer, with many long-running projects coming to fruition for small Alaska towns and villages.

Paired with other diverse economic stimuli, construction is often the bread and butter that works in the background to help smooth out rocky times for small communities. Such was the case in Ketchikan, in the years after the forestry industry slumped and the local pulp mill closed. New construction-often related to tourism development and highway projects-provided some shoulder protection for the local economy and continues to do so.

Nationally, the United States opened the new year with construction starts reportedly up 2 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $504.4 billion, according to McCrawHill Construction Dodge, a clearinghouse for industry news and trends. The company reports nonresidential building in January up 4 percent nationally to 148.2 billion; residential building up 1 percent to $264.5 billion; and non-building construction up 3 percent to $91.7 billion. Such reporting places Alaska in the West division, where residential building increased by 5 percent and non-building construction by 3 percent.

TROUBLED WATERS

Though construction activity is equally rampant around the state, Southeast contractors are up and running early with a natural boost of more than a few dry, clear days already under their belts this spring. Builders welcome a summer of considerable activity and some seemingly construction-friendly weather to go with it.

For a few of those projects, however, the waters of negotiation have not been so calm.

Ketchikan saw itself embroiled this spring in a bid dispute after the city awarded contracts to a Juneau-based company for $250,000 worth of piling maintenance and $600,000 to construct a downtown mooring dolphin and fenders. Local contractors protested the bids and the city then overturned the contract award to Juneau-based Bicknell Inc. and instead accepted the bids of the local firms, Pool Engineering and Dawson Construction. In a subsequent move, Bicknell contested the city's actions and, in late March, the matter was the topic for executive session.

Still, in Southeast, Ketchikan's borough government and school board are ramping up for the construction of a new elementary school and renovation of...