Project Overview
PND provided the community of Chignik, Alaska, with comprehensive design, permitting, cost estimating, and construction support services to replace dilapidated but critical dock structure with an OPEN CELL SHEET PILE™ (OCSP™) bulkhead and new multiuse public facility. Like other rural communities throughout Alaska, marine infrastructure is vital for Chignik, where access to the remote community is either by air or water via the Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS). The new public dock created potential to attract a second fish processor to the community and ensured the Alaska State Ferry system continued to make routine calls to Chignik.
PND’s engineering services covered the entire project lifecycle, from concept development through construction support, including the design of a new mooring dolphin and catwalk. The new all-tide deep-draft facility accommodates medium- and large-vessel berthing, provides moorage for AMHS vessels, and meets the needs of local and regional communities. The modern, high-capacity OCSP™ bulkhead is 310 feet long, with amenities such as boat storage and uplands areas. PND also updated project documents to meet Federal Highway Administration and Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities requirements, securing grant funding and ensuring long-term sustainability for Chignik’s maritime economy.
Our Role
- Civil Engineering: developed preliminary design, cost estimates, economic feasibility studies, geotechnical investigations, funding request documents, and permitting to help the owner obtain funding for the project
- Geotechnical Engineering: provided a geotechnical investigation and material testing, drilling five holes offshore and onshore to provide necessary information for design of the dock and usage of an upland stockpile
- Waterfront Engineering: designed proprietary OCSP™ bulkhead for the public dock facility and SPIN FIN™ piles for the new dolphin system
- OPEN CELL SHEET PILE: designed a 310-foot-long OPEN CELL bulkhead including boat storage and uplands areas
- SPIN FIN: incorporated SPIN FIN pile technology which withstood a major earthquake in 2021
OCSP Design Withstands Major Seismic Events
Incorporating PND’s proprietary OCSP™ system and SPIN FIN™ pile technology, the Chignik Public Dock and Ferry Terminal survived a magnitude 8.2 seismic event in July 2021, as well as a July 2020 M7.8 and October 2020 M7.6. Chignik Harbormaster Aloys Kopun, who experienced the 1964 “Good Friday” earthquake in Kodiak, was in Chignik during the M8.2 event. He described the recent earthquake as more violent than the ’64 quake and reported the ground in Chignik moved like waves in water. Days after the event, the Lake and Peninsula Borough manager inspected the dock and found no structural damage or issues.
"Working with the PND team was a fantastic experience. Their deliverables were on or ahead of schedule. As issues arose, they pursued the solution aggressively until a solution was determined. From start to finish, they were committed, responsive, and timely. The PND team made it a point to attend all meetings or respond to all inquiries. From the start of the project to the final design documentation deliverable, they were engaged in the process."
Earthquakes
withstood by the new Chignik Public Dock since construction with no damage
Magnitude
largest earthquake which the new dock has weathered so far
Linear Feet
length of OPEN CELL bulkhead
