Parks and Glenn project kicks off

MAT-SU -- Gov. Tony Knowles and Department of Transportation Commissioner Joe Perkins joined local mayors Tim Anderson of the Mat-Su Borough, Sarah Palin of the city of Wasilla and Jim Cooper of the city of Palmer at a ceremonial ground breaking for the new $45 million Glenn-Parks highway interchange project Tuesday.

"The project we are kicking off today builds on several of our transportation initiatives by providing for the non-stop, free flow of traffic into the communities of Wasilla and Palmer and eliminating another dangerous at-grade highway and rail crossing," Knowles said.

In a press release and brief speech, Knowles said the interchange will enhance safety. Knowles also said the project was designed to protect important salmon spawning habitat in the area.

"DOT worked closely with the Department of Fish and Game and the Army Corps of Engineers to obtain the permits that ensure that this major project has the smallest impact possible on this important habitat," Knowles said. "When completed, we will have both an interchange and habitat for the salmon. I can't think of a better example of 'doing it right.'"

In the press release, the governor's office said the state spent $62 million on Mat-Su area roads between 1988 and 1994, but since 1995, the Knowles administration will have spent $345 million on Mat-Su transportation projects. The press release also stated that Glenn Highway from mile 100 to 109 and the Knik-Goose Bay Road project will be under contract in September.

The interchange is funded by a $50 million-congressional appropriation secured by U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, and was bid as a design-build project to allow design to take place during construction. As one portion of the design is completed, construction of that portion can begin.

The design-build contract will allow for a compressed schedule and an earlier completion date. Kiewit Pacific Corporation, the construction contractor, intends to initiate construction this summer with project completion scheduled for Oct. 1, 2004.

In attendance at the ground breaking were Mat-Su Borough Assembly members Dan Kelly and Sara Scott Jansen and Borough Manager Jon Duffy, as well as public works and DOT officials and engineers.

Drivers should see the first detours around the construction site in the next few weeks, but a map of the final traffic pattern is still unavailable, because engineers haven't made all of those decisions yet.

Paul Witt, a senior engineer at HDR Alaska Inc. said that's because design-build strategy allows construction to begin on portions of the project before design for the overall project is finished. HDR Alaska Inc. previously worked with Kiewit Pacific on the Whittier Tunnel project.

Witt said an HDR team will stay with Kiewit Pacific throughout the job. Politicians claim design-build strategy helps projects get built faster. As an engineer, Witt has other reasons to like design-build construction. He said some features of the final design might actually come from other proposals by companies that competed with Kiewit's proposal.

"The nice thing about design-build is that when you take the proposals, DOT is basically buying their ideas," Witt said.

Witt also said that peat bogs and other soft ground in the area will make for bridges and ramps with a variety of foundation designs. The peat soil varies from two to 20 feet deep in different areas within the project's footprint -- in some places, the bridges might require pile foundations as deep as 200 feet, according to Witt.

Engineers also have to keep federal wetlands permits and other permits in mind as they explore traffic pattern and design options, Witt said.

"If you move one of the ramps, you could have to change the permit," Witt said.