Construction of $8 million new barge ramp at Port MacKenzie planned for next year

Bit by bit, Mat-Su’s Port MacKenzie is adding facilities, upgrading its capabilities and attracting new customers, port director Dave Griffin told the Matanuska-Susitna Borough assembly in a briefing Tuesday, July 15.

The most recent development is the award of $7.9 million in federal funds for a barge haul-out ramp that will generate new business from barge operators needing to pull barges out of the water for winter storage and maintenance.

Griffin told the assembly that the federal grant is now being finalized and he hopes to see construction start next year on the barge ramp. Engineering and permitting has been completed. A 35% local match is required for the federal grant but these funds have been secured, Griffin said.

Port MacKenzie is on Knik Arm and is owned and operated by the borough. The facility has a 1,200-foot dock connected to shore by a 475-foot trestle. There is also a 100-foot by 100-foot cargo dock for use by barge operators. The port is designed mainly to handle shipment of bulk commodities and industrial equipment.

This is different than Anchorage’s Port of Alaska, across the Knik Arm from Port MacKenzie, which mainly unloads freight containers holding consumer goods along with fuel.

The port’s business is stlll small but it is growing as customers discover its capabilities,Griffin said. The big advantage is space and land. Last year Cook Inlet Region Inc. used Port MacKenzie to do maintenance on the large turbines at Cook Inlet’s Fire Island wind project near Anchorage. A lot of space is needed for this work.

Contractors like Cruz Construction and Western Construction now use the port to store equipment to support their projects, many of those in rural Alaska. The port does steady business with barge operators and typically has visits by one to two larger ships carrying bulk materials, Griffin told the assembly.

Northern Gravel & Trucking of Anchorage, for example, brought in ships in 2023 and 2024 to unload and store road salt used for winter road maintenance in Southcentral Alaska and coastal communities. Another ship with salt is planned this year.

The military also makes use of Port MacKenzie and this summer the port will play a role in Arctic Edge, an important exercise that will demonstrate response to a major regional emergency, Griffin told the assembly. The exercise will take place from July 27 to August 15, and will bring a lot of activity.

Port MacKenzie is also important for its growth potential with extensive land available, a strategic location with access to highway transportation and potentially a link with the Alaska Railroad, access to power and a 20-inch Enstar Natural Gas Co. pipeline not far away.

Central Alaska Energy, which is affiliated with Vitus Marine, a regional fuel distributor, is working on plans for a regional fuel storage and distribution center and has leased land at the port. Central Alaska hopes to serve customers in Mat-Su and north to Interior Alaska. Other fuel companies are also interested.

In a new development, Griffin told the assembly that NovaMinerals, an Australia-based minerals company exploring gold and antimony deposits near the end of the proposed West Susitna access road, has applied for a lease of a 42-acre tract at the port for a possible ore processing plant.

Griffin said Port MacKenzie’s key advantages are its control, through the borough, of 9,000 acres of tidelands and 5,000 acres of adjacent onshore land. A few miles north are 13,000 acres of agricultural lands. What’s important, Griffin said, is that land in the area is controlled by the borough, the state of Alaska and University of Alaska, with a fair amount owned privately. Private lands are important because the owners are motivated to develop their land. Overall, this will stimulate economic activity from Southcentral to Interior Alaska.

Meanwhile, a steady pace of improvements are being made at the port. A cathodic protection system to protect steel in the port’s structures from corrosion has been completed and last year about half of the piling supporting the dock was “sleeved,” with metal jackets to provide protection. The remaining piling will be sleeved in a future project. The first-phase sleeving project cost $7.8 million and was completed on time and on budget, Griffin said.

In other improvements a new Rough Terrain Cargo Crane has been purchased and is awaiting delivery, which will enhance the port’s ability to unload and load heavy cargo, Griffin said.

The new barge ramp is a significant project that will bring in new business with barge operators, many who now use the port to support projects. The new ramp will be 300 feet by 200 feet with degree slope to barges, and potentially other vessels, to be moved out of the water for winter storage and maintenance.

Currently, barge operators use Homer or Seward for storage or near western Alaska communities served by the barge companies. The U.S. Coast Guard must do annual inspections, which require barges to be out of the water, Griffin said.