Alaska Journal of Commerce
By: Elwood Brehmer
The Anchorage Assembly is seeking help to determine once and for all if it really needs to spend roughly $1.9 billion to rebuild the city’s deteriorating port.
Assembly member Christopher Constant, who has started a reexamination of the Anchorage Port modernization program as co-chair of the Assembly’s Enterprise and Utility Oversight Committee, summed up reaction to the potential price of the port project at a March 21 Assembly committee meeting.
“We need to look closely to figure out if there’s cost savings. Sticker shock doesn’t even get near the level of shock,” Constant said of the $1.9 billion estimate to replace and upgrade the port’s cargo, petroleum, cement terminals and other facilities.
Read Full Story Here:
http://www.alaskajournal.com/2019-03-27/anchorage-assembly-seeks-fresh-look-port-cost-estimate
KTUU News
By Hank Davis
The Anchorage Assembly is seeking outside assistance to identify ways to cut down costs for the $1.9 billion Port Modernization Project.
The updated cost came out earlier this year, leaving city leaders looking for alternatives to avoid the massive price projection.
Chris Constant, who serves as a co-chair for the Assembly's Enterprise and Utility Oversight Committee, introduced a resolution to appropriate up to $100,000 for the purpose of procuring one or more contracts for independent analysis regarding the cost of the Port Modernization Project.
Read Full Story Here:
https://www.ktuu.com/content/news/Assembly-will-reconsider-options-for-19-billion-port-project-507925821.html
By: Milbank News Writer
As the Dunleavy administration prepares its first budget, the governor and his staff would be wise to review the history of state transportation megaprojects during the past 15 years. Realistically examining and canceling unaffordable projects would save the state millions of dollars on planning, as well as billions of dollars in construction costs.
Successive Alaska governors and legislatures have appropriated nearly $400 million in federal and state funds to transportation megaprojects, including the Knik Arm and Gravina bridges, the Juneau Access road and the Interior roads to Umiat and Nome. The projects’ need for billions of dollars in construction costs, however, ensured their demise.
Previous Republican governors have taken the lead in canceling these fiscally irresponsible projects. Gov. Sarah Palin canceled Ketchikan’s Gravina bridge, Gov. Sean Parnell canceled the road to Nome, and Gov. Bill Walker canceled the other bridge and road megaprojects.
Read Full Story Here:
https://milbankmonitor.com/cutting-unaffordable-megaprojects-could-save-alaska-millions-of-dollars/21/03/2019/
Anchorage Daily News
By: James Brooks
Even if it doesn’t have all the money in hand, the Municipality of Anchorage will begin construction on the first phase of the Port of Alaska replacement project next summer, Municipal Manager Bill Falsey told state lawmakers in a Thursday hearing of the Senate Finance Committee.
That first phase, which involves a new terminal for petroleum and cement deliveries, is estimated to cost about $223 million. According to figures presented to the Legislature by Falsey, the municipality is about $111 million short. The money on hand will cover work through summer 2020. When that money runs out, “we will have the options of how we can raise that cash,” Falsey told lawmakers. “For the remainder of the facilities that live at the Port of Anchorage, that is not a this-year project.”
Read Full Story Here:
https://www.adn.com/politics/alaska-legislature/2019/03/22/anchorage-port-plan-calls-for-construction-even-without-full-funding/
By Tim Bradner
Anchorage Press
The warning seems dire enough: Anchorage’s docks could start closing in about nine years due to corrosion and obsolescence, and possibly sooner if there is another big earthquake.
Corrosion in some of the 36-inch steel piles that support the dock is so bad that the steel wall thickness on some piles is down to less than one-eighth of an inch, said Steve Ribuffo, director at the port.
Luckily, the port’s piling seems to have withstood the Nov. 30 earthquake, but that is based on only preliminary inspections. A more complete examination will be done this spring when the ice is gone and there will be better light and tide conditions.
Read Full Story Here:
https://www.anchoragepress.com/news/progress-a-matter-of-great-importance/article_1b76b270-4aa2-11e9-a6f9-73506bb41f9d.html
By: Kirsten Swann, Alaska Public Media
The entire project is estimated to cost more than $1.9 billion. Assemblyman Chris Constant, co-chair of the Assembly Enterprise and Utility Oversight Committee, said the shock of the latest cost estimate led to a moment of clarity: now, he said, lawmakers hoped an independent analysis could help assess their options moving forward.
“Our intent at this point is to look really closely at all of those parts, determine what’s really essential for moving forward, then come up with some rational cost analysis to to figure out what we’re going to build, who’s going to pay for it and when it’s going to happen,” Constant said.
Read Full Story Here:
https://www.alaskapublic.org/2019/03/19/anchorage-lawmakers-weigh-options-for-1-9b-port-modernization-project/
By: Elwood Brehmer
Alaska Journal of Commerce
Anchorage port customers on March 15 affirmed the possibility that self-funding a rebuild of the critical but badly corroded infrastructure they use might drive ultimately business away from the port and Anchorage in general.
Municipal and port officials are once again in the midst of an analysis to determine exactly is needed how to pay for it at what is arguably Alaska’s most critical piece of infrastructure.
The ongoing Anchorage Port Modernization Program would mostly replace the existing docks with a few additions. While scaled back from the failed port expansion project of the late 2000s, the current work is expected to cost upwards of $1.9 billion to complete, according to the project management firm CH2M, which was recently purchased by Jacobs Engineering Group.
Read Full Story Here:
http://www.alaskajournal.com/2019-03-18/users-say-fuel-tariff-hikes-would-impact-cargo-operations-airport#.XJF2AyhKjtV
Anchorage Daily News
The Anchorage Daily News asked candidates for the April 2 election to the Anchorage Assembly to answer a series of questions on issues facing those bodies. Many of the questions were suggested by readers. We’re publishing select responses daily. The answers were fact-checked when facts were cited and edited for spelling, grammar and writing style.
Read Full Story here:
https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/anchorage/2019/03/04/anchorage-assembly-candidate-qa-the-price-tag-for-the-port-of-alaska-project/
Alaska Journal of Commerce
By: Elwood Brehmer
Faced with a looming price tag of nearly $2 billion to fix its port, unsavory funding options and competing claims, the Anchorage Assembly is again examining every aspect of rebuilding one of Alaska’s most critical pieces of infrastructure.
The Assembly began its third review of plans to rebuild the municipal-owned port, which the body officially renamed the Port of Alaska in 2017, during a Feb. 20 Assembly Enterprise and Utility Oversight Committee meeting where representatives from several civil engineering firms were invited to present their thoughts on the current port modernization project.
Assemblyman and committee co-chair Christopher Constant characterized the informal meeting as a “crowd-sourcing” session for Assembly members to gather high-level design concepts and other information that could be carried forward.
Notably, Jim Campbell, president of the Anchorage-based firm PND Engineers Inc., said he believes major components of the new construction estimated to cost more than $1.4 billion can be done for just more than $300 million.
Read Full Story Here:
http://www.alaskajournal.com/2019-02-27/assembly-begins-critical-look-anchorage-port-plan#.XHh8WIhKjtV
KTUU News
By Rebecca Palsha
Many Alaskans had sticker shock when they saw the updated cost for the Port of Alaska: Almost $2 billion.
It prompted many lawmakers and city leaders to rally behind what is essentially an audit of the project.
Anchorage Assemblyman Chris Constant organized a special meeting of Municipality of Anchorage Utility and Enterprise Committee on the Port Modernization Project. He invited Jacobs Engineering, Moffatt Nichol, R&M Consulting, PND Engineers and DOWL. Constant says DOWL couldn't attend.
Read Full Story Here:
https://www.ktuu.com/content/news/Anchorage-Assembly-looks-to-reduce-costs-to-fix-the-Port-of-Alaska-506132561.html
