Tuntutuliak Boardwalk

Tuntutuliak, Alaska

PROJECT SUMMARY

Name of Project
Tuntutuliak Boardwalk

Location of Project
Tuntutuliak, Alaska

Client
Knik Construction/Alaska Department of Transportation

Situation
The Yup’ik native village of Tuntutuliak is almost completely surrounded by water. Before 2008, everyday travel to and from the community was a challenge for the village’s 400 residents because of the inadequate condition of the airport. Knik Construction was contracted to build a new runway and access for the community. Scattered streams and lakes set between patches of wetlands made conventional paved streets an impractical solution. Instead, the Alaska Department of Transportation commissioned the construction of a nearly mile-long elevated boardwalk, connecting the village to the airport. Knik hired STG to build the elevated boardwalk between January and April.

Challenge
Building on the sensitive tundra is never an easy feat and in order to preserve the natural habitat during the summer months, STG needed to construct the boardwalk in winter. Arctic conditions and permafrost were additional factors considered in the construction of the boardwalk, a familiar yet challenging element in any project for STG. In addition, the task of getting over 2 million pounds of steel via barge to the project site occurred in the fall, however, the project didn’t begin until January and it would be too late to access additional material. This meant there would be no ability to mobilize in material heavier than 6,000 pounds and 20 feet long due to the constraints of air freight transport.

Solution
To preserve the delicate ecosystem, STG built the structure during the winter atop the frozen tundra when the ground is more stable. Made up of 380 driven piles, 800,000 pounds of galvanized structural steel, and 1.4 million pounds of treated timbers, the serpentine boardwalk is the largest one of its kind in the entire state and serves as a model for other remote communities. Through thorough preconstruction planning STG successfully ensured all materials were mobilized in the fall shipment and no delay was experienced due to inadequate supplies. Through STG’s approach to preconstruction planning and our culture of value engineering we were able to complete the project from start to finish in just five months.

LOCATION MAP

PROJECT PHOTOS

PROJECT SUMMARY

Name of Project
Tuntutuliak Boardwalk

Location of Project
Tuntutuliak, Alaska

Client
Knik Construction/Alaska Department of Transportation

Situation
The Yup’ik native village of Tuntutuliak is almost completely surrounded by water. Before 2008, everyday travel to and from the community was a challenge for the village’s 400 residents because of the inadequate condition of the airport. Knik Construction was contracted to build a new runway and access for the community. Scattered streams and lakes set between patches of wetlands made conventional paved streets an impractical solution. Instead, the Alaska Department of Transportation commissioned the construction of a nearly mile-long elevated boardwalk, connecting the village to the airport. Knik hired STG to build the elevated boardwalk between January and April.

Challenge
Building on the sensitive tundra is never an easy feat and in order to preserve the natural habitat during the summer months, STG needed to construct the boardwalk in winter. Arctic conditions and permafrost were additional factors considered in the construction of the boardwalk, a familiar yet challenging element in any project for STG. In addition, the task of getting over 2 million pounds of steel via barge to the project site occurred in the fall, however, the project didn’t begin until January and it would be too late to access additional material. This meant there would be no ability to mobilize in material heavier than 6,000 pounds and 20 feet long due to the constraints of air freight transport.

Solution
To preserve the delicate ecosystem, STG built the structure during the winter atop the frozen tundra when the ground is more stable. Made up of 380 driven piles, 800,000 pounds of galvanized structural steel, and 1.4 million pounds of treated timbers, the serpentine boardwalk is the largest one of its kind in the entire state and serves as a model for other remote communities. Through thorough preconstruction planning STG successfully ensured all materials were mobilized in the fall shipment and no delay was experienced due to inadequate supplies. Through STG’s approach to preconstruction planning and our culture of value engineering we were able to complete the project from start to finish in just five months.

LOCATION MAP