ADOT says Ketchikan airport ferry-berth project nearing final work; topping slab, steel fixes planned

David Lowell, construction engineer and project manager for the Alaska Department of Transportation’s South Coast region, told the Ketchikan Gateway Borough Assembly July 21 that the long-running Ketchikan Airport ferry-berth project is in its final steps, with planned concrete and steel fixes this summer and a final inspection and ribbon cutting anticipated in the fall.

Lowell said the original contract for the project was awarded June 19, 2020, for $51 million and that the project achieved substantial completion of uplands work and several structures in 2022. The project team deferred some refurbishment work and is preparing to rebid the remaining refurbishment projects next spring; much of the material for that work has been procured and is staged at the airport.

Why it matters: The new berths and uplands work were intended to improve ferry operations and passenger access; the assembly received details on cost-management choices, structural remediation and a targeted schedule to remedy vehicle-scraping issues affecting long-overhang vehicles such as ambulances.

Problems encountered and fixes Lowell described differing site conditions and construction challenges that required close coordination with contractors and designers. When long pilings arrived on site the contractor had to splice some piles in the field to fit equipment parameters. Field splice welds were inspected; some were found inadequate. To address that without redoing installed work, engineers installed a smaller-diameter, thicker‑walled pile inside the existing pile and grouted the annulus to create a composite pile. Lowell said the team is confident in the structural integrity of the finished portions following those repairs.

Vehicle scraping at the top of the transfer bridge After the new berths were finished in July, the contractor and DOT found that some vehicles (ambulances with long overhangs) were scraping the bridge during certain tidal conditions. DOT ran as-built surveys and vehicle-turning simulations (AutoTurn) and designed a fix consisting of a topping slab on local areas of the concrete docks to change approach geometry, plus steel modifications to apron areas. Lowell said crews expect to begin the concrete topping work in August and complete steel welding modifications in September, with a final inspection and ribbon cutting thereafter.

Schedule, costs and procurement Lowell said the project experienced some cost increases but that the team removed refurbishment work from the original contract to keep the new-berth uplands within available funding and limit change orders. He reported change orders remained under a 20% level for the project to date. The team anticipates rebidding refurbishment projects for construction availability in spring; material purchases already staged will reduce lead time once a contractor is selected.

Questions from the assembly Assembly Member Thompson asked about confidence in the ambulance fix; Lowell said testing included AutoTurn simulations across tide cycles and that the topping slab and approach geometry change are designed to remove a hard knuckle at the top of the bridge. Assembly Member Bailey asked whether adding the topping slab would create structural issues; Lowell replied no, the topping is accounted for in structural load analyses and is intended as a geometry correction.

Next steps DOT anticipates the concrete work beginning in August and steel welding in September, with a final inspection and ribbon-cutting ceremony soon after completion.