By Elwood Brehmer
Alaska Journal of Commerce
Anchorage is another big step closer to getting reimbursed for much of the failed construction work at the city’s port. A federal judge on Thursday awarded the city every dime of the $367.4 million Anchorage attorneys had been asking for in its years-long lawsuit against the federal government.
U.S. Court of Federal Claims Judge Edward J. Damich issued his judgment against the U.S. Maritime Administration four days shy of eight years after the Municipality of Anchorage filed suit against the federal agency for its role in managing the troubled expansion project for the then-Port of Anchorage, which started nearly two decades ago.
Read Full Story Here:
https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/anchorage/2022/02/25/judge-awards-municipality-of-anchorage-full-367m-sought-from-feds-in-lawsuit-over-botched-port-construction/
By Anchorage Daily News editorial board
When Gov. Mike Dunleavy rolled out his proposed budget and a general obligation bond package in December, one item on the infrastructure shortlist raised eyebrows: $175 million allocated for the “Knik Arm Port.” When pressed on what that line item referred to, given that there are two ports in Knik Arm of very different scales and in two separate municipalities, the governor’s office said the money could be used by either the Port of Alaska or Port MacKenzie.
It was an answer that only raised more questions: If the money weren’t allocated specifically to one port or the other, who would decide how much money went to each port — and what it would fund? A month and a half later, we have some answers: The governor wants Anchorage and the Mat-Su to look into a regional port authority, which would govern both ports and coordinate project funding, as well as operations.
There’s a big problem with that plan: It doesn’t make any sense — fiscally or otherwise — to split resources between one port that’s bustling and another that is effectively dormant. “This isn’t a good idea, guys,” said Sen. Mike Shower, R-Wasilla, in a committee hearing on the bond proposal in late January. “We need something different than this.” Shower and other legislators appeared blindsided by the notion of funding a port authority that doesn’t exist — and worried that it would exacerbate tensions between the two ports, to the detriment of Alaskans.
Read Full Story Here:
https://www.adn.com/opinions/editorials/2022/02/05/is-the-governors-peculiar-port-plan-already-dead-in-the-water/
Anchorage Daily News
By Zaz Hollander
Gov. Mike Dunleavy is proposing a funding injection to shore up Anchorage’s bustling Port of Alaska but linked with the nearly idle port 5 miles across Knik Arm in the governor’s home base of Mat-Su.
The Dunleavy administration is suggesting the Municipality of Anchorage and Matanuska-Susitna Borough look at forming a new regional port authority to decide how to spend $175 million in general obligation bond funds on repairs needed at both.
The so-called Knik Arm Port Infrastructure project currently makes up nearly two-thirds of a larger statewide $325.1 million GO bond package Dunleavy included in a state budget proposal unveiled in December. Any package faces revision and approval by the Legislature before going before voters in November.
The early stage port funding proposal is already hitting challenges: no port authority exists, there are no immediate plans for Anchorage and Mat-Su assemblies to discuss it, and the general idea is already raising questions among key legislators.
Read Full Story Here:
https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/mat-su/2022/01/30/gov-dunleavy-wants-to-link-175-million-in-funding-for-anchorage-and-mat-su-ports-it-may-be-a-tough-sell/
Anchorage Daily News
By Dave Bronson
When I came into office, resolving the homelessness crisis in Anchorage was my No. 1 priority. However, as my team and I assessed the dire situation at the Port of Alaska, it became quite clear that rebuilding and modernizing the port had to become the chief focus of my administration.
I know Anchorage residents, and folks across our state, have heard about problems at the port for many years. I’m not here to talk about past issues, mistakes made, or score any political points. I am focused on the future, ensuring food security for our state, and rebuilding our great Port of Alaska.
The Port of Alaska is the single most important piece of infrastructure in our state. Yes, we have the trans-Alaska oil pipeline, world-class mines, the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport and other critical infrastructure that support commerce throughout our state. But without the Port of Alaska, none of these would be possible.
Read the full story here:
https://www.adn.com/opinions/2022/01/28/its-time-to-save-the-port-of-alaska/
By Zachariah Hughes
Anchorage Daily News
The Municipality of Anchorage won a major court victory over the federal government in a long-running dispute centered on hundreds of millions of dollars worth of faulty work done during a project to overhaul the Port of Alaska.
Last week, Senior Judge Edward J. Damich with the U.S. Court of Federal Claims ruled definitively: “The Government breached its agreements with Anchorage.”
Though litigation has been going on for seven years, at issue is a contract dating back to 2003 between Anchorage and the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration, or MARAD.
After the city entered an agreement with MARAD to overhaul the facility, much of the work carried out by subcontracted companies proved to be shoddy and substandard. A 2013 suitability study conducted by CH2M Hill found “the design and construction were defective,” which would necessitate portions of the project being redesigned and rebuilt.
Read the full story here:
https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/anchorage/2021/12/13/anchorage-wins-lawsuit-over-feds-in-dispute-about-botched-port-construction-and-repayment/
By Megan Pacer and Patrick Enslow
KTUU
After seven years pending in the court system, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims on Thursday ruled in favor of the Municipality of Anchorage in the lawsuit it filed against the U.S. Maritime Administration over the city’s port expansion project.
“It’s an enormous vindication of what we’ve been saying all along, and that’s basically that the federal government had control of this project and they didn’t perform — they messed it up,” Assistant Municipal Attorney Robert Owens said.
The municipality sued contractors involved in construction in the Port of Anchorage Intermodal Expansion Project over a decade ago. In 2013, the city sued PND Engineers Inc. for $100 million in damages for the failed construction at the Port of Alaska, and in 2017 a settlement was filed with that contractor. The Port of Anchorage was renamed the Port of Alaska in 2017.
Read Full Story Here:
https://www.alaskasnewssource.com/2021/12/10/federal-claims-court-sides-with-anchorage-lawsuit-over-port-alaska-expansion-project/
By Wesley Early, Alaska Public Media
Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson says his administration is working to bolster economic development in the city through upgrades at the Port of Alaska.
“Today, we are one seismic event away from catastrophic failure of our port,” Bronson said Monday during his State of the City address to the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce. Bronson delivered his remarks virtually because he was quarantining after being exposed to someone with COVID-19, a spokesman said.
Bronson told the luncheon crowd that about 90% of goods consumed in Alaska come through the port and it’s in dire need of repairs. As part of the Port of Alaska Modernization program, Bronson said the municipality will replace aging infrastructure at the port like old docks and pilings. The beginnings of the modernization project go back to at least 2014, when the port was called the Port of Anchorage.
Read Full Story Here:
https://www.alaskapublic.org/2021/10/25/mayor-bronson-talks-future-of-port-repairs-in-state-of-the-city-address/
By: Elwood Brehmer
Alaska Journal of Commerce
If all continues going largely according to plan, the first major piece of a long-sought and badly needed overhaul to the Port of Alaska will be in service by year-end, according to officials.
Construction crews are in their second year of work on the new petroleum and cement terminal, or PCT, located south of most of the city-owned port’s existing docks at a cost of about $200 million.
“It’s on time and on budget,” spokesman Jim Jager said in an interview.
The workers were able to drive the necessary support pilings into the sea floor before Cook Inlet’s endangered Beluga whales started frequenting the water near the port as they feed on late-summer salmon returning to nearby streams, according to Jager.
The new PCT will replace a petroleum offloading terminal originally built in 1965 that sustained significant damage in the November 2018 earthquake, according to port officials. Handling jet fuel shipments for the world-scale cargo traffic at nearby Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport is a primary line of business for the port.
Read full story here:
https://www.alaskajournal.com/2021-08-17/port-terminal-project-open-year-end
Anchorage Daily News
Author: Morgan Krakow
Question: What are the Conex boxes with observation decks on top for? I have seen two locations: one at the city boat launch at the mouth of Ship Creek and the other in the parking area at Northern Lights and Postmark Drive. Just being curious.
These shipping containers near the Ship Creek boat launch and along the Coastal Trail near Earthquake Park are for observing marine mammals in Cook Inlet during construction at the Port of Alaska. And there are more.
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https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/anchorage/2021/06/22/curious-alaska-what-are-shipping-containers-with-observation-decks-doing-along-the-anchorage-waterfront/
Alaska Native News
By Joe Plesha
The House of Representatives passed House Joint Resolution 19, which articulated the need for widespread infrastructure investment in the state of Alaska.
The resolution was sponsored by the House Labor and Commerce Committee and identified the areas of need statewide and cited the work of Congress to construct a federal infrastructure package as a mechanism for investment.
“It’s essential we help our congressional delegation make their case when fighting for our share of federal funding,” said Rep. Ivy Spohnholz (D-Anchorage), a co-chair of the committee that drafted the bill. “Federal investment helped build this state and Alaska can’t continue to fall behind when it comes to maintaining our infrastructure.”
Read full story here:
https://alaska-native-news.com/house-makes-case-for-congress-to-invest-in-alaskas-infrastructure/55739/
