The Haines Port and Harbor Advisory Committee reviewed the latest Lutak dock design. It is the first committee in the borough to do so.  

Two representatives from Turnagain Marine Construction Zoomed into Thursday morning’s Port and Harbor Advisory Committee meeting. They presented their 65% design for the Lutak Dock.

At 65%, designers decide on the general shape of the project. The committee approved of what they saw and recommended moving ahead with the plans. 

Ed Coffland, the borough’s public works director, spoke with KHNS about the presentation.

Coffland: “There hasn’t been any great changes, the footprint is basically the same, there is a proposal to add a notch ramp.”

A notch ramp is a movable ramp that fits into a gap in the dock. Smaller vessels will sit much lower than the top of the dock. That could make transferring materials difficult. A notch ramp would solve the issue.

Coffland: “We haven’t really decided about that, but it would be something that would make the dock a little more flexible. We have a couple of contractors here in town that have that kind of operation where they ship rock out of Haines to other locations, and it would just enhance that kind of operation.”

On the plans issued by Turnagain, the notch is near the middle of the dock. Some members of the committee had misgivings about the location, and about the potential for workers to fall into the gap. 

An important change in design was how the face of the dock is tied to the uplands. The dock face consists of a row of 42 inch diameter metal tubes driven into the seafloor. In the last design,  metal rods would have run horizontally under the ground, every eight feet, tying the top of the metal tubes to a cement anchor. In the new design there is a thick cement rim topping the row of tubes, and rods angle down from it and are anchored into the bedrock.

Coffland: “Which I think is going to give us probably a much stronger, much more effective, lesser cost solution. The previous design would have had a tieback every other pile. And now we can go about every thirty five feet.”

The row of tubes will be positioned a short distance from the edge of the current dock, extending it out  by about seven feet. To make room for that, the current ramp will have to be moved slightly.

Coffland: “It will be reoriented just slightly, it will be rotated I think two and a half degrees to accommodate this, that’s actually going to be done by AML and is not part of this project. But AML is on board with it and aware of what we are doing and they fully support it.”   

The design also includes the southern end of the dock that crumbled into the water years ago. The area was stabilized with large rocks, but reclaiming it for the new dock will increase storage capacity.

Advisory committee members had questions about the continued use of the dock while it is rebuilt. There was concern over how to keep the fuel transfer line safe while the upland soil is being compacted, and over the potential failure of the old structure during construction. 

Although the plan is coming into focus, it hasn’t been finalized yet and is still under review. Next Wednesday evening there is a town hall to allow for public comments. The planning commission will meet on Thursday. They will decide then whether the project is on the right track and if Turnagain should bring it to the 95% stage. This is the stage where details are worked out, like what gauge of steel to use and the specifications of different materials.

If the design is approved next week, another important element comes into play.

Coffland again.

Coffland: “At the 65 % level, which is what we are now, we get a guaranteed maximum price, meaning that the contractor will give us a price that they will not exceed.”

Here is a link to the 65 % design.