U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Alaska District projects: heavy construction workload in military and civil works programs.

• Author: Richardson, Pat
• Position: BUILDING ALASKA: SPECIAL SECTION

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Alaska District s workload remains strong and employment remains steady at approximately 500 people statewide with the majority located in Anchorage. Corps projects are funded by the U.S. Congress but come to the district through various programs.

The Alaska District is a full-service district with three major programs, military construction, water resources development (civil works), and environmental cleanup/restoration activities. Most design and all construction work is accomplished by contracting the work to private industry firms.

The military program is growing, while the civil works program is slightly declining. Environmental program funding, while stable, saw the largest increase in providing environmental remediation services for other federal agencies. New projects described below, plus carryover work from hundreds of projects from previous fiscal years' Congressional appropriations makeup the total workload. In a new category, the district received American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds and has already awarded contracts for most of these projects.

FISCAL YEAR 2010 WORKLOAD

The Alaska District is the primary design and construction agent for the Army and the Air Force in Alaska. The district's Fiscal Year 2010 Military Program has been adjusted to include 19 projects valued at approximately $355 million, compared to 17 military projects valued at $300 million in FY09, which ended on Sept. 30. The district is designing and constructing four projects at Fort Richardson valued at approximately $55 million, nine projects at Fort Wainwright valued at about $200 million, one project at Clear Air Force Station valued at an estimated $25 million, two projects at Elmendorf Air Force Base valued at approximately $35 million, and three projects at Eielson Air Force Base valued at about $40 million.

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Through FY2010 Congressional appropriations, the district's Civil Works Program received funds to continue work on six studies funded at approximately $703,000 (Homer East Harbor, Kotzebue Small Boat Harbor, Matanuska River Watershed, Valdez Harbor Expansion, Whittier Harbor, Yakutat Harbor), three construction projects valued at $5.2 million (Alaska Coastal Erosion, St. Paul Harbor, Unalaska), and nine operations and maintenance (O&M) activities costing $24.2 million (Anchorage Harbor, Chena River Lakes, Dillingham Harbor, Homer Harbor, Inspection of Completed Works, Kodiak...