Lost and alone in bush Alaska


These last couple of weeks has been pretty brutal with my schedule keeping me out of town with brief returns to the office for design meetings and paperwork.  I have been out of town without internet so sorry for the lack of writing and no word of what has transpired.

Barge schedules have been hectic with equipment and materials moving all over Kodiak Island.  One load is picked up in Kodiak and taken to either Old Harbor or Larsen Bay and returns to their home port to get another load to go to the other village.  One trip each way is 15 to 20 hours on the water with a brief time at high tide to unload items. 

Last week in Larsen Bay my crew started moving dirt and getting things ready for construction.  They were setting up camp, getting a septic tank in place so we can have water and sewage for our 5th wheel housing units.  They are almost too nice for construction work crews but my guys are appreciative and will take great care of them.

As I was about to walk out the door to my office for the Larsen trip my boss came into my office and informed me that I was being given three more projects in another village that has had problems getting completed.  It is known as a Legacy project meaning that the village of Kipnuk has had many phases over the years going from no facilities in the village to installing a small water treatment plant, a watering point, water lines, sewer lines, a washeteria, raw water lagoon, a sewage lagoon, and finally hook ups to individual houses.

Many villages take years to build mainly due to funding as each phase is separately funded building the system a little at a time.  With the longevity of these projects it is normal for there to be changes in personnel leading the project. 

We are closing in on the final stages of bringing this community a new water treatment plant with washeteria and showers, a watering point and tying in the clinic.  To get everything online by September we have to complete over 5,000 feet of 6” forced main sewer line with two inch glycol heat lines to keep them from freezing as this village is built on permafrost so the insulated lines are installed above ground on wooden boardwalks.   3,000 feet of 6” Raw water line with two inch glycol heat lines from a lagoon catch basin.  Finish the process piping and all of the mechanical work in the plant as well as build ramps and bridges over our piping where it crosses the entrance boardwalks to about 14 houses.

There is more to be done but that gives an idea of the scope to get the plant operational by September.  If my crew pulls this off and we complete this on time and budget it will be something.

Upon returning from the Larsen Bay trip I gathered up some food, gear and headed off with Bill, my superintendent (he used to work for me on the new super Walmart in Kenai) who we just hired and my project engineer to go out and introduce us to the village tribal council leaders, the local work crew and to see exactly what has been completed or what materials that may need to be ordered.

It was a crazy trip and I’ll post more later on but suffice it to say it snowed on Wednesday (in June for Pete’s sake) making it a totally wild time there.

It’s good to be back but I’m sure I will be in and out of town over the next few months so we shall post the progress of things soon.

Ice

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