Project Overview
PND has developed and executed multiple expansion phases at Statter Harbor since 2008 to alleviate congestion and improve safety and operational efficiency at the busiest small boat harbor in Alaska. Phase I improvements replaced aging mooring floats, and Phase II upgrades added nearly 5 acres of uplands and a boat launch ramp. Phase III involved several technically challenging aspects, including an 18-foot-high, 300-foot-long mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) wall to add an additional 1/3-acre of usable uplands and extensive drilling, blasting, and dredging to accommodate an additional 1,150 linear feet of moorage.
PND provided dredge design in Phase IIIA, which included 18,000 cubic yards of dredged material over 1.5 acres at an elevation of -16 feet below mean lower low water. To facilitate blasting, 30,000 cubic yards of shot rock were imported to construct a temporary drilling pad to minimize the impact on marine life. After blasting, the imported shot rock was relocated and stockpiled in the uplands, reinforcing the site and making it suitable to host the MSE concrete block wall in Phase IIIB and uplands welcome center in Phase IIIC. The IIIB offshore upgrades included timber floats, utilities, and a new 100-foot-long, 10-foot-wide covered aluminum gangway attached to a pile-supported concrete dock providing secondary harbor access.
PND is currently developing Phase IIID, hardscaping the uplands to allow for tour bus loading/unloading and extending the existing seawalk.
Our Role
- Waterfront Engineering: designed timber floats with steel bracing members to achieve a classic aesthetic system; floats were designed to resist three times the industry-standard design load to accommodate large assembly loads for passenger staging
- Contract Administration & Construction Support Services: oversaw construction, including 20,000 square feet of concrete moorage floats connected to the existing headwalk float
- Geotechnical Engineering: dredged 20,000 cubic yards of material and drilled and blasted 2,500 cubic yards of rock across 1.5 acres to meet the required harbor depth of -16 feet below MLLW; designed new 18-foot MSE concrete block wall to expand uplands capacity
- Structural Engineering: designed the new timber-framed building on a conventionally reinforced concrete foundation for the restrooms and staging area
- Environmental Consulting: prepared an Incidental Harassment Authorization application, developed a Biological Assessment, and updated the project’s Essential Fish Habitat Assessment; agency consultations required detailed modeling and mitigation for the underwater capped blasting program
Strategically Expanding a Crucial Harbor
Don D. Statter Harbor is vital to Juneau’s marine infrastructure and the community’s local economy. PND’s design not only expands opportunities for passenger-for-hire vessels to operate alongside commercial vessels and recreational boaters during the busy summer tourism season but also provides year-round accommodations for live-aboard patrons.
"I’m extremely happy with the completed project as the owner. The whole team demonstrated expert technical skills; the design and construction team collaborated to create a world-class facility that further cements Juneau’s reputation as the Southeast Alaska maritime center of excellence.”
PND’s design provides a dedicated space within the harbor for passenger-for-hire vessels and for-hire floats, eliminating conflicts between the harbor’s tour operators and commercial and recreational users by reducing congestion on land and in water. Statter Harbor now boasts 10,000 linear feet of transient moorage.
Upon completion of Phases IIIA/IIIB, the ASCE recognized PND’s success with two awards―the 2022 ASCE Region 8 Small Project of the Year and 2021 ASCE Juneau Chapter Outstanding Project of the Year.
