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New Borough Ferry Dock Design
Funds Approved by Assembly
After years of talk about building a dock to accompany the multi-million ferry terminal
building at Point MacKenzie, some cash has finally come through. The Mat-Su Borough
Assembly in January appropriated just over $998,000 to a firm charged with designing a
floating landing where the new ferry could tie-up as soon as next year.
The Assembly selected PND Engineers to finish the work it began earlier to create
floating docks capable of mooring two vessels.
The M/V Susitna is a military prototype that can break ice, land amphibious vehicles or
tanks on beaches and also get your truck across the Kink Arm for a yet undetermined
price -- once there is a place to tie-up in Anchorage.
PND could also be the designer of a dock in Anchorage, if and when a squabble over
placement of the dock is settled between the Borough and the Anchorage Assembly.
The Borough wants to place the ferry terminal at the mouth of Ship Creek, while former
Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich wanted it in the Port of Anchorage. The battle has raged
for two years, and Borough officials hope the election of a new mayor will send
negotiations with Anchorage in their direction.
The cost of the vessel’s construction is creeping toward $88 million, $50 million of
which came from national defense dollars earmarked by Alaska’s D.C. delegation, mostly
by former Sen. Ted Stevens.
M/V Susitna is being built in a Sitka shipyard which was renovated -- as a part of the
overall price tag -- to be able to do the construction work. The project is under the aegis
of U.S. Navy researchers, who will collect data on the vessel’s performance in the rough
Knik waters.
A landing in Anchorage could cost more than $22 million, compared to the expected $14
million maximum price tag for the Port MacKenzie site. The vessel should have sea trials
this year or next, and is to be delivered in the spring of 2010.
Funds Approved by Assembly
After years of talk about building a dock to accompany the multi-million ferry terminal
building at Point MacKenzie, some cash has finally come through. The Mat-Su Borough
Assembly in January appropriated just over $998,000 to a firm charged with designing a
floating landing where the new ferry could tie-up as soon as next year.
The Assembly selected PND Engineers to finish the work it began earlier to create
floating docks capable of mooring two vessels.
The M/V Susitna is a military prototype that can break ice, land amphibious vehicles or
tanks on beaches and also get your truck across the Kink Arm for a yet undetermined
price -- once there is a place to tie-up in Anchorage.
PND could also be the designer of a dock in Anchorage, if and when a squabble over
placement of the dock is settled between the Borough and the Anchorage Assembly.
The Borough wants to place the ferry terminal at the mouth of Ship Creek, while former
Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich wanted it in the Port of Anchorage. The battle has raged
for two years, and Borough officials hope the election of a new mayor will send
negotiations with Anchorage in their direction.
The cost of the vessel’s construction is creeping toward $88 million, $50 million of
which came from national defense dollars earmarked by Alaska’s D.C. delegation, mostly
by former Sen. Ted Stevens.
M/V Susitna is being built in a Sitka shipyard which was renovated -- as a part of the
overall price tag -- to be able to do the construction work. The project is under the aegis
of U.S. Navy researchers, who will collect data on the vessel’s performance in the rough
Knik waters.
A landing in Anchorage could cost more than $22 million, compared to the expected $14
million maximum price tag for the Port MacKenzie site. The vessel should have sea trials
this year or next, and is to be delivered in the spring of 2010.
