USACE Major Infrastructure Projects in 2024: Emphasis on best small business practices. (CONSTRUCTION)

• Author: Mcleod, Cameron
• Date: 01 February 2024

The US Army Corps of Engineers --Alaska District (USACE) is preparing for a productive 2024 construction season. The organization's robust workload includes major infrastructure construction efforts under the district's civil and military programs in every corner of the state. These projects are constructed in collaboration with a variety of stakeholders and contractors.

"Protection of people and local economies is a central theme in the district's upcoming workload," says Valerie Palmer, acting chief of the district's Programs and Project Management Division. "These important constructions will inhibit coastal erosion, support national security, and bolster human health and safety."

USACE expects to award at least $125 million for civil works projects, making this category its largest area of investment in 2024. Following the enactment of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Disaster Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act in January 2022, the district's portfolio of projects will be funded with nearly $1 billion for critical civil works and disaster relief projects in the coming decade. Many of these efforts will contribute to the development of the state's water resources, help boost economies, and reduce flood and storm risks for more than one dozen communities.

Civil Infrastructure Projects

In 2019, USACE published the Kenai River Bluffs Bank Stabilization Section 116 Feasibility Study that recommended the establishment of a protective berm at the bluff toe. The protective material will span nearly 5,000 feet along the base of the eroding bluff. It will consist of 42,400 cubic yards of armor rock, 33,200 cubic yards of crushed rock, and 13,100 cubic yards of gravel base.

On September 25, 2023, Colonel Jeffrey Palazzini, commander of the

Alaska District, joined Michael Connor, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works, and Terry Eubank, city manager of Kenai, in the signing of the project partnership agreement.

"This project is protecting some critical infrastructure in the community of Kenai," Palmer says. "Residences, businesses, and the local senior center will each ret eive protections from coastal erosion because of this important work."

The district is awarding a contract for the Kenai River Bluffs erosion project in 2024, with a significant amount of construction anticipated to begin this year as well.

In North Pole, the Moose Creek Dam Safety Modification Project is another key effort that will have a valuable impact on the greater Fairbanks community, Bauer Foundation Corporation of Florida will enter its third season constructing a mix-in-place concrete barrier wall under a contract...