Two engineers on the Haines Borough Planning Commission were skeptical about construction elements of a $37.4 million design to refurbish Lutak Dock, but the commission unanimously approved the option anyway.
The commission recommended that the borough pursue the Alternative 1A conceptual design posed by firm R&M Consultants, which includes encapsulation of existing cells – steel frames filled with rock that support the dock structure – and reclamation of three cells that have been partially excavated.
This design would require vibrating steel sheet piles between and around the walls of existing cells.
Commissioner Larry Geise, an engineer, was concerned about that method of driving sheet piles. “It’s a nightmare,” he said.
Commissioner Rob Miller worked at Lutak Dock in the early 1990s while employed as an engineer for the state. “You can’t vibrate it through boulders…so I think the alternative carries a higher risk,” Miller said. “There’s also a possibility they could run into oil tanks or any kind of thing that would cost money to dispose of.”
He said a $21.1 million alternative that did not include encapsulation but is a a rock slope and mooring dolphin design similar to the recently rebuilt ferry dock, would eliminate acres of useful dock space.
“So I think we just have to cross our fingers,” Miller said.
The Port and Harbor Advisory Committee recommended the same design earlier this month.
Although developing a recommendation was not on the agenda Tuesday, interim public facilities director Shawn Bell requested the commission make a decision so the topic could move on to the assembly and staff could start seeking grant funding.
“It made logical sense because of the recent workshop to go ahead and move forward with a recommendation,” Bell said. “We need a primary plan to go chase after money with. We understand that it’s going to be, in the end, funding-driven and we may have to fall back to the cheaper plan if funds just don’t come available in the next couple years. But we want to demonstrate that we have strong community support from the different boards, from the assembly… that we want to move forward.”
Commissioners Geise and Brenda Josephson did not attend the Feb. 1 Lutak Dock workshop where members of the planning commission, Port and Harbor Advisory Committee, R&M Consultants and the public discussed R&M’s alternatives at length.
Josephson said she was okay with voting Tuesday as to not delay the process another month.