We Do It All

Turnagain Marine Construction takes marine jobs from concept to completion

By David A. James

hen planning large marine infrastructure projects, whether public or private, prospective clients first need someone to properly engineer and design the intended facility. Then they need to find a contractor to build it. Plenty of companies in Alaska are highly competent at performing either of these tasks, but only one, Turnagain Marine Construction, does both, helping customers through each step of the process, from conception to completion.

“I had the desire to be a design/builder that focused on customer service and long-term relationships,” says company founder and president Jason Davis. “We’re one of the few contractors that has in-house engineering capability that allows us to take a project—like a cruise ship dock or a container terminal—from the initial concept feasibility all the way through structural design, permitting, and construction.”

Davis was formerly a vice president with Pacific Pile & Marine and started its Alaska division in 2008. After seeing a need for an all-in-one marine design and building firm, he launched Turnagain Marine as a subsidiary of Triton Marine Construction Corp. in 2014. Among the small handful of design-build firms in Alaska, it is the only one focused on marine construction.

For Turnagain, Davis assembled a diverse staff of engineers, designers, and project managers, then coupled them with skilled construction workers who aren’t afraid of getting wet. And for obtaining permits, they partner with Solstice Alaska Consulting rather than leaving that job to the customer. For clients, this means one company does everything, saving them the trouble of putting multiple aspects of a project out to bid.

“Contact Turnagain Marine, tell us about your project, let us know where it’s going to be, what the purpose of the facility is,” explains Josh Zellmer, senior design engineer. “With our in-house engineering and design, we can put together a practical concept for your facility while working with our construction team to provide a realistic cost estimate. It puts your project on a much faster time frame to go from concept to reality, often putting the facility into service years earlier than if procured through traditional design-bid-build methods.”

With design and construction aspects of a job all handled under the same roof, costs are consolidated, communication between designers and builders is streamlined, and project deadlines are easier to meet. “That’s a service that I think we’re really unique in offering,” Davis says. “When a prospective client is able to take a basic design and a firm fixed-price proposal with them to seek financing or board approval or whatever their process is, being able to convey with a high level of confidence that they have a good engineering solution at a known price is really paramount in them getting support.”

Judging by the amount of work the company immediately began receiving, Davis gauged Alaska’s marine construction market correctly.

“We’ve been able to stay busy,” he says. “I think part of that is, we have a good rapport with private industry by focusing on value. We don’t try to be the absolute cheapest. We don’t try to over-design or overbuild. We look at what is the best value for our client. And that’s helped us win over the private sector.”

Turnagain has built breakwaters, bridges, piers, roll-on/roll-off facilities, and more in coastal communities ranging from Juneau to Seward to Cold Bay and beyond. As owners of the largest floating crane stationed in Alaska, they’ve hoisted rail cars in Ward Cove and raised a sunken World War II-era tugboat in Juneau. In addition to developing ports and harbors, the company has performed dredging work. They even built the stabilization bulkhead on the Yukon River in Circle. “It all requires a very similar skill set,” Davis says.

One recent project the company is proud of is the new cruise ship berthing facility in Hoonah.

“We worked with them through their planning and their financing stages, and ultimately engaged in a design and construction contract,” Davis says. “As we were designing it, we ensured that what we were designing could be constructed with the equipment that Turnagain had available—with materials and sizes that could be readily procured.”

Russell Dick, President and CEO of Huna Totem Corporation, holds Turnagain in high esteem after working with them.

“Turnagain Marine delivered award-winning piers at Huna Totem’s world-class cruise destination at Icy Strait Point,” Dick says. “Jason Davis and his design-build team are true partners in our development projects. From concept to completing construction on time and on budget, Turnagain is a forward-thinking leader in its industry and for the state of Alaska.”

This is the reputation Davis wants Turnagain to have.

“We’re well recognized in Alaska as a marine construction company,” he concludes. “But we would like to increase our visibility as a designer and showcase that we have innovative and proficient engineering capabilities to offer our clients.”