Lutak Dock. (R&M Consultants)
The Haines Borough Assembly approved an agreement last night to lease land at the Lutak Dock to Alaska Marine Lines, or AML. Under the proposed lease, AML would construct a roll on roll off ramp to improve safety during freight deliveries.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built the Lutak Dock back in 1953. Everything from groceries to vehicles and fuel enters Haines through this dock. When the borough contracted an assessment of the dock six years ago, engineers found that it had reached the end of its life and its support structures are at risk of collapsing.
Since then, part of the dock has been closed off to deliveries as a precaution. The one area of the dock’s face that continues to be used has been structurally reinforced. The Haines Borough has adopted resolutions to discontinue use of the entire dock, but the deadline has been pushed back multiple times.
Over the past few years, the borough researched possibilities for constructing a new docking facility. When the borough struggled to finance the project, they approached AML two years ago to see if the company could help construct a new ramp to keep deliveries off the face of the dock. The idea is to build a loading ramp that forklifts can use to transport containers on and off the barges without putting weight on the dock.
In the past few months, the borough finalized an agreement with AML to lease its land at the Lutak Dock so that the shipping company can construct the roll on roll off facility. Under the terms of the 30-year lease AML would pay for the construction costs and the borough will give the company preferential berthing rights and reduced wharfage fees.
Haines Harbormaster Shawn Bell says that the roll on roll off facility will provide some stability while the borough works towards the larger structural repairs of Lutak Dock.
But those repairs are expensive. According to Haines Borough Contracts and Grants Administrator Carolann Wooton, rehabilitating the dock would cost over $20 million. The project has the support of Governor Mike Dunleavy and Alaska’s congressional delegation. Wooton submitted an application for a federal infrastructure grant to help pay for the project in May. The grant recipients will be announced in September.
