JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON – Friday, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – Alaska District awarded a construction contract for the first portion of the Port of Nome Modification Project in Nome, Alaska.
Kiewit Infrastructure West Co. of Vancouver, Washington, will construct Phase 1A of the Port of Nome Modification project. Funded by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, formerly known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, this construction contract award is valued at about $399.4 million.
“A robust and efficient transportation hub at Nome is foundational to the long-term viability of surrounding communities in the region,” said Col. Jeffrey Palazzini, commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – Alaska District. “We are committed to assisting the City of Nome by providing a reliable solution that improves the port’s navigation efficiency.”
Phase 1A is the first of four phases of the required construction to build the Port of Nome project. The first phase of the project will construct a 1,200-foot causeway extension with about 600 feet of dock face. Following this portion of the project, the Phase 2 dredging of the deep and outer basins up to minus 40 feet is next scheduled for construction. The City of Nome is the non-federal sponsor for this project.
The entirety of the harbor expansion project aims to provide larger vessels with improved access to Nome’s existing harbor and creating a new deep-water basin at a depth of minus 40 feet. Dredging is required to deepen and maintain both basins and associated navigation channels. Currently, ship transportation is limited by existing depths in the outer basin of minus 22 feet. This depth is inadequate to safely accommodate vessels of drafts greater than about 18 feet.
The new port project will serve research and public safety purposes as well as an important pivot point for the nation’s military presence above the Arctic Circle. The Port of Nome is a regional hub located on the Seward Peninsula and adjacent to Norton Sound, which is centrally located along the western coast of Alaska. Nome has no access to major road systems and is approximately 545 miles northwest of Anchorage.
USACE’s history in Nome dates to the construction of the original harbor in 1917.
