As crews continue pumping 1.4 million gallons of fuel from a Russian tanker to isolated residents of Nome Alaska, the state is taking stock of a major shortfall in Alaska’s maritime transportation infrastructure. (Follow the story here.)
Weeks ago, severe ice and snow storms cutoff Nome from sea supply lines due in part to a lack of available ice-breakers and shortcomings in deep-water and on-shore infrastructure. As the U.S. Coast Guard, Alaska officials, and news outlets across the state begin reflecting on the incident, discussion has now turned to the state’s maritime transportation infrastructure.
In a story posted last week on Greenwire (to read, click here), AUTC researcher Andrew Metzger joins many sources in explaining this issue to the public.
AUTC project PI Andrew Metzger installs strain gages and protective coating on a berthing dolphin piling on the Auke Bay ferry landing in Juneau, Alaska in August 2010. (Photo: Jonathan Hutchinson)
Metzger is a leading expert on infrastructure and engineering issues tied to arctic ports and deep-water infrastructure. His research project portfolio includes an ongoing study of Washington State and Alaska’s ferry loading environment (to learn more, read here), Geo-technical Asset Management (read here), and a recent project on how pile-guided floats respond to dynamic loading (read here).
In July, Metzger was invited by Alaska Senator Mark Begich to testify before a U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, and Coast Guard on this issue. To view of video of these proceedings, click here.
As Alaska’s maritime infrastructure continues to gain attention from planners, engineers, and the media, stay tuned for future updates from AUTC.
