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Weekly UpdatesPort MacKenzie has come a long way since construction started on a pioneer access road and barge dock in the fall of 1999. Since that time, the barge dock has been completed; three-phase electrical power has been extended 11 miles to the port; telephone/fax/Internet capability has been added via microwave reception; a 1.25-mile road and 18-acre pad have been constructed for stockpiling woodchips; a 1,200-foot-deep draft dock has been constructed; and a multi-use conveyor system has been installed from the top of a 120-foot bluff, across the barge dock, to the deep-draft dock. Other improvements include a security building that was constructed by the Job Corps in Palmer, a public telephone booth, and a filter rock ramp for landing craft use on the south side of the barge dock.
Progress continues as the port focuses on five main goals to jumpstart development at Port MacKenzie:
* to install utilities
* construct a deep-draft dock
* upgrade and pave the last 15 miles of the Point MacKenzie Road
* have a year-round ferry operating between Anchorage and Port MacKenzie
* and complete a rail link to the port from the Parks Highway
NATURAL GAS ARRIVING
Now that electric and telephone have been extended to Port MacKenzie, the next utility to come to the port will be natural gas. A $250,000 grant has been awarded from the Denali Commission to design a 15-mile, 8-inch spur from a 20-inch main line at Ayrshire Road to the port. The design should be completed in 2006, and the gas line will be constructed when funds become available.
Construction began on the deep-draft dock in July 2004 and the dock was substantially completed on Dec. 22, 2004. Immediately afterward, NPI LLC, a woodchip company based in Wasilla, extended their 5-foot-wide conveyor to the end of the 485-foot trestle connected to the deep-draft dock. West Construction did a remarkable job of constructing the conveyor system under extremely difficult conditions in time for the arrival of the first Panamax-size vessel at Port MacKenzie on Jan. 31, 2005. The Keoyang Majesty is the world's largest woodchip vessel at 725 feet long, 105 feet wide, and a draft of 42 feet. This vessel was loaded with more than 83 million pounds of birch wood chips destined for South Korea during the coldest week of the winter. Despite temperatures averaging minus-15 degrees with wind chills down to minus-50 degrees, NPI was able to successfully load this initial vessel. By the end of 2005, NPI loaded a total of six Panamax-size woodchip vessels, half going to South Korea with birch and half going to Japan with spruce chips. NPI created 100 new jobs as a result of its operation.
FUNDING IN POCKET
Partial funding, about $3.4 million, has been obtained through the Federal Highway Administration to upgrade the access road to Port MacKenzie. These funds will be used to lower the grade on the last two hills leading to the dock from 10 percent to 5 percent, cut the side slopes, and place the spoils in the seabed to expand the 5-acre barge dock by 7.86 acres. In addition, a public boat launch will be constructed on this fill similar to the small boat launch at Ship Creek in Anchorage. Peratrovich, Nottingham, Drage Inc. designed the access road, barge dock and deep-draft dock. They are also completing the final design for the access road and public boat launch, and are completing the preliminary engineering and 35 percent design for the upgrade and paving of the last 15 miles of the Point MacKenzie Road as part of the Knik Arm Crossing project. The Matanuska-Susitna Borough hopes to receive $15 million from the State of Alaska to pave this section of road by the end of 2007, in time for the expected ferry traffic.
NEW FERRY?
The Cook Inlet Ferry (formerly known as the Knik Arm Ferry) is on track to be operating by the summer of 2008. An Environmental Assessment for the ferry system has been completed by HDR Alaska Inc. and approved by the Federal Transit Administration. A design contract for the ferry landings has been awarded to Tryck, Nyman, Hayes Inc., which should be completed by fall 2006. The ferry landings are scheduled for construction in the summer of 2007. Lockheed Martin was selected to conduct the preliminary design of the ferry vessel. Perla & Associates is completing the final design. The vessel will hold up to 50 passengers and 20 vehicles, and will be constructed in the Ketchikan Shipyard to provide Alaska jobs. The ferry also will be outfitted with radios and could be used as a mobile command and control center in the event of a natural disaster. It could also respond in support of the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport in case a plane or helicopter went down in the inlet. If the Knik Arm Crossing is constructed, the ferry could be used to shuttle workers and materials across the inlet. The ferry is viewed as an "interim" measure to transport people, vehicles and materials across Cook Inlet until the Knik Arm Crossing is completed. After the bridge is completed, the ferry could be used on alternate routes, such as Anchorage to Kenai, Homer or Williamsport. It could also be used between King Cove and Cold Bay, or as a backup to the State's ferry system in Southeast Alaska.
RAIL, ROAD AND UTILITY CORRIDOR
TNH has completed a route study for a 43-mile rail spur, road and utility corridor from the Parks Highway just north of Willow down to Port MacKenzie. The Borough Assembly has formally adopted this route in the borough's comprehensive plan. Once the rail spur is extended to the port, it will be more efficient to transport additional commodities such as coal from Healy, fuel from the North Pole refineries, limestone and rock. The rail spur could later be extended across the Knik Arm Bridge to save the railroad more than an hour each way between Anchorage and Fairbanks. The rail spur would also allow for commercial trains to bypass communities such as Houston, Wasilla, Palmer, Birchwood, Chugiak, Eagle River, Elmendorf Air Force Base and North Anchorage to minimize or eliminate train noise and crossing hazards along the route. The existing line between Willow and Anchorage could then be used primarily for commuter trains, which would run during commuter hours.
MANUFACTURED HOUSING AND MODULES
Besides NPI LLC, two other companies have been doing business at Port MacKenzie. Alutiiq Manufacturing Contracting has constructed and shipped 68 houses to rural Alaska communities since 2001. AMC also has constructed range facilities for Fort Richardson and Fort Wainwright. VECO, the largest construction company in Alaska, and AMC teamed in a joint venture from July 2005 through February 2006 to construct 12 pump modules for Alyeska's pipeline stations and two electrical modules for BP's North Slope operations. This project provided more than 50 full-time jobs at the port. As more orders are received for module construction, this joint venture should provide even more jobs.
JOBS CREATED
Six Panamax-size vessels and 12 barges utilized Port MacKenzie in 2005, the first year of operation after construction of the deep-draft dock. More than 150 jobs were created at the port in 2005. NPI and AMC have both applied to double the size of their leases at the port in 2006. A two-story, 7,000-square-foot terminal building and port offices will be constructed on the barge dock by Collins Construction in 2006.
Port MacKenzie is not being constructed to compete with the Port of Anchorage. Port MacKenzie is viewed as being a "complementary" port designed to primarily export the many natural resources available in the Matanuska and Susitna Valleys, such as timber, woodchips, sand, gravel, rock, coal and limestone. Two of the main goals of the port are to create new employment opportunities and to stimulate economic development within the Mat-Su Borough. Port MacKenzie has 8,940 acres, 14 square miles, within the port district dedicated to commercial and industrial development. The docks are designed to efficiently export natural resources, not to off-load container ships, which is the mainstay of the Port of Anchorage. In fact, both ports are working together to get the ferry running across Cook Inlet. Port MacKenzie also hopes to provide low-cost gravel to the Port of Anchorage to help with its port-expansion project.
Once the five goals mentioned have been achieved, Port MacKenzie and the surrounding area will provide easy access for low-cost commercial development, residential expansion, and recreational opportunities. Port MacKenzie is still in its infancy. However, within a few short years there will be a transformation of this area located just two miles across Cook Inlet from Anchorage. In fact, the transformation has already begun. Port MacKenzie is "Open for Business." For more information, contact Marc Van Dongen, port director, at 746-7414 or visit www. portmackenzie.com.
Marc Van Dongen is port director/ engineer at Port MacKenzie. He's been a resident of Palmer since 1992. He has a bachelor's degree in engineering technology and a master's degree in business administration. He served 24 years in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, including four years as the deputy commander of the Alaska District. Among his many military awards are the Legion of Merit and the Bronze Star.
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