Emergency Response

AGC members work with the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities on quick repairs

By Rachael Kvapil

In 2023, crews from Great Northwest, Inc. responded to an emergency culvert failure on the Elliot Highway, about 30 miles away from an Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities project the company was working on along the Dalton Highway.

Photo provided by Great Northwest, Inc.

workers responding to an emergency culvert failure on the Elliot Highway

Photo provided by Great Northwest, Inc.

Emergency Response

AGC members work with the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities on quick repairs

By Rachael Kvapil

mergency repair projects generally don’t make headlines unless they’re large and part of a natural disaster, such as Typhoon Merbok in 2022 or the 2018 magnitude 7.1 earthquake that shook Southcentral Alaska. However, for every large-scale emergency project, at least a dozen smaller ones are tackled by contractors working with the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, or DOT&PF. In the Northern Region, twenty-two emergency projects were completed quickly in 2023 thanks to a statewide provision allowing simplified procurement procedures.

Payment for emergency repairs varies depending on whether there is a state or federal government declaration of emergency.

In the Northern Region, thirty-seven active DOT&PF Maintenance and Operation, or M&O, stations are staffed to manage the area’s primary highway, airport, and building needs. Staff respond to 370,000 square miles, about 65 percent of the state’s total land area. The infrastructure in the Northern Region comprises about 8,800 lane miles of road and highways, both paved and unpaved; 1,500 lane miles of airport surfaces; 376 bridges; 408 public buildings; one seaplane float pond; and 99 airports with 550 airport leases.

“Maintenance stations are located anywhere from 50 to 100 miles apart on the roadways,” says DOT&PF Northern Region Construction Engineer Mike Lund. “Crews are out on the roads and checking facilities at regular intervals. They know potentially problematic areas since they are familiar with the area.”

Accelerating the Process

Lund says minor emergencies typically involve flooding, failed culverts, sudden erosion, and bridge reconstruction. Once M&O identifies an emergency, crews assess whether they have the equipment and workforce to manage the repairs themselves or if they need to find a contractor. Several factors determine whether the emergency is handled in-house or by a third party, including time, the size and scope of the repair, and other repairs that need attention.

emergency repairs completed by the Great Northwest, Inc.

Contractors are selected for emergency repairs based on several factors, including proximity, resources, and labor.

Photo provided by Great Northwest, Inc.

“M&O will complete the repairs if they have the resources,” says Lund. “When the repairs are beyond their capacity, they will go through the process of identifying a contractor to take over the effort.”

DOT&PF has an extensive procurement and contracting process for non-emergency projects, where contractors submit bids for advertised projects. In emergencies, Lund says the process is still formal, though abbreviated. Sole-source procurement for emergency projects requires DOT&PF to fill out a waiver that justifies the reason for forgoing the regular procurement process and outlines the contract terms. Selecting a contractor for emergency repairs depends on the nature of the emergency, nearby contractors working on other DOT&PF projects, and the resources necessary to complete repairs.

A Fast Drainage Fix

Among the twenty-two emergency projects that took place in the Northern Region last year, several were repaired by Associated General Contractors, or AGC, of Alaska contractors. South of Fairbanks, Granite Construction, Inc. responded to emergency flooding on the Glenn Highway between Mileposts 186 and 188.

Granite is a construction contractor and construction materials producer with locations across the United States, including offices in Anchorage. It provides services throughout Alaska, focusing on heavy civil infrastructure projects that include earthmoving, paving, bridges, and drainage work.

In 2023, Granite Construction, Inc. responded to emergency flooding on the Glenn Highway at Mileposts 186-188. With crews working on another nearby project for the Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities, they were able to respond immediately and complete emergency repairs quickly.

Photo provided by Granite Construction, Inc.

Granite was working on two DOT&PF projects on the Richardson Highway, one south of Glennallen between Mileposts 40 and 51 and the other north of Glennallen between Mileposts 128 and 138, when DOT&PF reached out about the Glenn Highway flooding.

Granite crews mobilized to Glennallen within a few hours of notification. When crews arrived, water was flowing across the highway in several locations. They installed 16-inch dewatering pumps to move the water from one side of the highway to the other so traffic could resume safely.

Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities 2023 Northern Region Emergency Repairs

Manley Slough Bridge Repairs

Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities, or ADOT&PF, Maintenance crews

Taylor Creek Bridge Replacement

ADOT&PF Maintenance crews

Richardson Highway Milepost 110 Repairs

Granite Construction

Geist Road Pedestrian Bridge Emergency Demolition

Alaska Demolition

Taylor Highway Emergency Flooding Repairs

ADOT&PF Maintenance crews

Eagle Mission Road Emergency Flooding Repairs

ADOT&PF Maintenance crews

Richardson Highway Milepost 330 Emergency Flooding Repairs

Great Northwest, Inc.
Heritage Trucking
Carpenter Contracting, Inc.

Nome Kougarok Road Emergency Flooding Repairs

ADOT&PF Maintenance crews

Russian Mission Airport Emergency Flooding Repairs

Brice, Inc.

Stevens Village Airport Road Emergency Flooding Repairs

ADOT&PF Maintenance crews

Glenn Highway Milepost 186 to 188 Emergency Flooding

Granite Construction
ADOT&PF Maintenance crews

Dalton Highway Milepost 404 Emergency Repairs

Cruz Construction

Chitina O’Brien Creek Emergency Flooding Repairs

ADOT&PF Maintenance crews

Dalton Highway Koyukuk River #1 Bridge Emergency Repairs

Hamilton Construction

Elliott Highway Milepost 85.9 Failed Culvert and Erosion Repair

Great Northwest, Inc.

Richardson Highway at Thompson Pass and Milepost 182-200 Avalanche Closure

ADOT&PF Maintenance crews

Valdez/Glennallen: Richardson Highway from Milepost 12 to 65: Closure Due to Numerous Avalanches

ADOT&PF Maintenance crews

indicates Associated General Contractors of Alaska member.

When the water subsided, Granite installed several culverts under the highway to improve drainage in that section of highway. The crews also placed riprap material on the outfall of both the new and existing culvert pipe to protect the area from erosion. Likewise, they added fill and riprap slope protection to Snowshoe Street to rebuild the roadway and protect it in the event of future flooding.

“The biggest challenge we had was pumping the water down so we could install the new drainage culverts without causing more erosion to the Glenn Highway,” says Granite Construction Manager Marty Thurman. “Once the water had subsided, the project was pretty straightforward, and we were able to complete it rather quickly.”

The emergency repairs in Glennallen cost $540,000 and included the price of all labor, equipment, and materials needed for the project. Thurman says Granite appreciates its partnership with the Alaska DOT&PF and is always willing to help.

Deep Digging

North of Fairbanks, Great Northwest, Inc., or GNI, responded to an emergency repair request on the Elliott Highway at Milepost 85.9. GNI is a general heavy civil contractor based in Fairbanks that regularly works on infrastructure projects such as highways, roads, site work and utilities. GNI was in the area working on a Dalton Highway project when DOT&PF reached out about a failed culvert and erosion issue that had closed the Elliot Highway.

“We were 20 or 30 miles away with people and equipment that we transferred over to complete the emergency repair,” says GNI Project Superintendent Jim Conlon.

Crews worked in a 25-foot-deep excavation to block the headwall of two culverts and pump out the water so they had a dry area to replace the culvert and repair the embankment. Conlon says the situation was most likely due to an aging culvert that failed. The cost of the repairs has not yet been finalized.

The Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities regularly works with nearby contractors for emergency repairs not managed in-house by its maintenance and operations staff. Emergency repairs are contracted via an abbreviated procurement process so that work may begin immediately.

Photo provided by Great Northwest, Inc.

“As part of the community GNI appreciates being able to team up with the Department to address emergencies and facilitate access as quickly as possible,” says Conlon.

In both cases, the emergency repairs were permanent solutions. Lund says if issues weren’t addressed entirely, DOT&PF would likely have further evaluated the problem, designed a solution, and advertised the project as part of the regular procurement process.

Payment for emergency repairs varies depending on whether there is a state or federal government declaration of emergency. Lund adds that this is true of emergency projects in other regions within the state.

Rachael Kvapil is a freelance writer who lives in Fairbanks.

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