The nation’s first deep-water Arctic port in Nome, Alaska, will have to wait, with the US Army Corps of Engineers halting procurement for the first phase of the $662 million project due to the price of the bids received for the work.
Corps officials in his Alaska district canceled the request on Oct. 16, saying the bids received exceeded the available project funding. The project was officially classified as “inactive” on Oct. 31, but that will change “as soon as possible,” the agency says.
“We remain fully committed to awarding a construction contract for the Nome Harbor Modification Project,” district officials said in a statement.
The number of offers and their amounts were not disclosed.
The Body said the Procurement Integrity Act prohibits the release of proposal information, including specific pricing details. The agency considers it “wrong to say the government’s estimate was unrealistic,” saying the bids were higher than expected.
About 90% of the project’s funding comes from the federal government and the remaining 10% from the city. Public procurement laws prohibit accepting contracts that exceed 25% of the estimated cost.
his Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska)WHO says he spoke with Corps leadership after the decision, insisted that officials “find a way to rectify these mistakes and present a timely path to construction.”
She said she is “deeply disappointed by the Army Corps’ abrupt cancellation of the contract solicitation for construction of Phase 1 of the Port of Nome,” adding that the port’s expansion ” it’s not just an Alaskan priority,” [but is] essential to our national security.”
Nome Mayor John Handeland said in a statement that the news “is a delay, not a cancellation.”
He called for the completion of the vital project for the city, the region, the state and the nation. “It’s disappointing that the … project is experiencing another unexpected disruption to the program,” Handeland said, adding that the city was not given advance notice of the action because of strict federal procurement rules.
Nome officials plan to meet with the Corps to review a revised cost estimate to move forward with available funding and have a revised request by Jan. 15, he said.
The Corps said it, along with the City of Nome, will take “information learned during the application process” to evaluate the best path forward and “will continue to work diligently to ensure that this project is successfully awarded the contract as soon as possible.”
The arctic launch
The project will allow the port, also known as Nome Harbor, to handle more ships at any given time and increase the depth of the harbor from 22 feet to 40 feet, enough to adequately accommodate a variety of vessels for trade, tourism and national security
A federal-local government project partnership was signed in January 2024, with the original plan to award a contract in late summer 2024 and begin construction in spring 2025. The pause casts doubt on those dates and the Corps said it is too early to discuss any future decisions.
The main objective of the three-phase project is to expand the outer basin of Nome Harbor while creating a new deep-water basin. Dredging will deepen and maintain deep and outer water basins and associated navigation channels. The first phase is expected to last three to four seasons, with full completion of the project originally planned for 2030.
Serving as a regional center located in the center of Alaska’s west coast, the Port of Nome was established in 1917 on the Seward Peninsula, adjacent to Norton Sound. It is 545 miles northwest of Anchorage and has no access to Alaska’s major highway systems. Government officials believe that Nome, with a population of 3,500, is of critical importance to the viability of surrounding communities. The port also provides a launch point for ships heading to the Bering Strait shipping lanes.
Depending on the size of the ships in the port, the expansion will double or triple the number able to dock at once. The 40-foot deep water basin allows the port to accommodate large cruise ships, cargo ships and all U.S. military vessels smaller than an aircraft carrier.
Handeland previously said the U.S. has long needed a deep-water port to enable refueling and refueling services for the national security fleet operating in the Arctic.
