June was a busy month of getting Denali Commission road and waterfront development projects underway. It also included fieldwork to analyze potential future projects, including an innovative effort by the military to use an expeditionary road standard on a road between Chignik Lagoon and Chignik Lake. The military, after initial field reviews has agreed to come to the Chignik Lagoon-Chignik Lake area next summer to perform a route survey and determination of practical application of their standards to this much needed road. This is a training program opportunity for the military, and a chance for Denali Commission to promote its efforts to find cost-effective road construction opportunities in rural Alaska.

Currently, Chignik Lake has to bring fuel up a river to the community in small quantities and Chignik Lagoon has a marginal runway that is frequently closed due to weather. By building a road between the two communities, Chignik Lake could receive fuel by barge at the Lagoon, for transfer by truck to the community and Chignik Lagoon would have access to the much better runway at Chignik Lake. Long-term, there are plans for a new larger runway mid point between the two Chigniks.

The use of expeditionary road standards, or pioneer road standards is a recent attempt by Denali Commission and its engineering agency partners to look at vehicle fleet-appropriate road widths and design speeds. The vehicle fleet in most rural communities is ATV's, light trucks and an occasional single or dual axle fuel truck. By building low-speed, low-volume roads to meet a slower, lighter vehicle fleet, there is a strong potential to significantly reduce per mile road construction costs.

A key to making these roads practical has turned out to be the BIA Tribal Shares funding program. These funds, assigned to communities based on a road miles and population formula are key because they allow tribal governments to conduct road repairs and maintenance. Absent an organization to sign a maintenance agreement, federal funds cannot be used on a project. Tribal Shares allows tribal governments to sign those agreements. In the case of the Chigniks Road, the Lake and Peninsula Borough, who participated in the fieldwork, is also discussing what role their government can play in making a project happen. That role could be ownership of the road and/or contributions toward design and/or construction.

This is one of several innovative road projects effort currently underway at Denali Commission. The other most significant innovation is an effort to develop ATV roads where appropriate. This effort has been led in western Alaska by the National Park Service, who is promoting ATV road construction to subsistence use areas. It is quickly being picked up by communities around the state as a practical alternative to full standard roads, and again goes to the idea that vehicle-fleet appropriate transportation infrastructure can be affordable and pracitcal.

The ATV roads can be made from commercial products generally known as geo-blocks, from gravel or other techniques using in place materials. The benefits to communities are numerous, including the fact that these types of low speed, light duty roads cost in the range of 20-30% of the cost of a full standard road.

Benefits include, improved driver safety, much less wear and tear on vehicles, and importantly, reduction in habitat damage, some of which is valuable bird nesting and rearing areas. There is an emerging construction equipment fleet based on ATV vehicles, including excavators, belly and end dumps and graders that are designed for just this type of road system. The technology and engineering had its genesis in large recreational trail construction, but it has easily and rapidly shifted to ATV uses.

Denali Commission has partnered with FHWA's Western Federal Lands Highway Division to look at routes in Hooper Bay, Chefornak and other sites this summer to determine if there are practical projects in these locations.  Alaska Village Electric Cooperative is currently constructing a Denali Commission funded ATV road to access its new wind tower project in Hooper Bay.

In July, Denali Commission and Western Federal Lands Highway Division staff will participate in a field review with National Park Service staff and community leaders in Hooper Bay to examine the access road and another ATV road project that the route Denali Commission has selected to join in on as one of its initial ATV road projects.

Also in July, Denali Commission staff and FHWA Alaska Division staff will begin work with a number of local road project sponsors to get their projects underway. Projects in Nenana, Gakona and Nondalton are three of those projects.  In addition, both Western Federal Lands Highway Division and the Corps of Engineers will be conducting construction inspections for Denali Commission projects.  Inspections will be conducted in Galena, Nome, and Thorne Bay as well as other communities throughout the state.

Waterfront development projects generally do not need the same oversight we are seeing as essential to success in the roads program. Port and harbor projects Denali Commission has selected to participate in are generally being constructed by communities with substantial experience in contract management. The majority of the ports and harbor projects Denali Commission has selected are contributions under $1,000,000 to projects that cost several million dollars.

In addition, the engineering firms managing projects for these communities are well aware of the Denali Commission project development requirements. Yakutat, Galena, Seward, the Bristol Bay port at Naknek and harbor improvements in small communities like Haines and Wrangell are examples of the construction projects currently underway.

Barge landings, a much needed transportation improvement in rural Alaska are currently being evaluated by the Corps of Engineers under agreement with the Denali Commission. The project stage of interviews with barge operators, communities and construction companies about barge landing needs in each community is complete and a draft priority list for a first round of design and construction is on target of a final report this fall. In addition, several agencies and governments are developing barge landing designs under agreement with Denali Commission including Alaska Energy Authority in Kwethluk, and the Lake and Peninsula Borough for the Iliamna Lake communities. The combined engineering products will provide the base for barge landing improvements that will likely range from deadmen anchors in a river bank to hold barges in place, to full sheet pile structures where appropriate. These facilities will enhance fuel deliveries, improve work safety and significantly reduce nearshore habitat impacts from current barge operation practices.

July will also be a time for updating project nomination forms, criteria, procedures and process in anticipation of the Fiscal Year 2009 Project Nomination Process that begins in August. This annual window for submitting road and waterfront development project nominations has become more refined each year as the Transportation Advisory Committee has refined its priorities for project selection, which takes place during a project selection meeting in Anchorage in mid-December each year.

Keep an eye on the Denali Commission website, www.denali.gov for information about the Project Nomination Process. The forms and packages will be available from a link on the home page for the duration of the open period, August 1 through October 1.

Finally, Denali Commission is involved in ongoing efforts by Alaska's tribal governments, FHWA, BIA, DOT&PF, and other agencies to find ways to streamline joint ventures in rural Alaska project funding and development. One current task is to set up a Tribal Transportation Summit in October to try to bring tribes and agencies together for training in project development and for discussion on how to leverage funds to accelerate road project developments in rural Alaska. This effort is led by a group of tribal entities and Denali Commission has found good value in working on these project delivery tasks.