Project Overview
The Pikka Development on the North Slope of Alaska is designed to extract hydrocarbon resources from Santos’ oil and gas leasehold. PND provided civil design for 37 miles of gravel roads, nearly 100 acres of gravel pads, over 300 drainage culverts, and the seawater treatment plant (STP) dock at Oliktok Point, as well as structural design of the Kachemach and Miluveach bridges―530 feet and 380 feet, respectively. The current Pikka phase is expected to produce 80,000 barrels of oil per day.
PND’s design of the Miluveach Bridge enabled rapid installation and prioritized efficient transport logistics. Prefabricated girders with integral deck elements minimized on-site construction time, accommodating constraints such as crane capacity and Arctic conditions. The bridge was transported via rail and barge and heavy-haul trucked to the site, enabling completion within the North Slope’s ice road construction season. Our design also minimized environmental impacts while ensuring efficient construction.
The STP Dock features a unique high-capacity offload facility and barge slip, including more than 5 acres of uplands staging area. PND’s design incorporated our proprietary OPEN CELL SHEET PILE™ technology, which has high load capacity and protects from erosion, scour, and extreme weather conditions. All pile driving was completed in a single winter season. The dock won the 2025 Pile Driving Contractors Association (PDCA) Project of the Year Award for our design’s success in the harsh arctic environment.
Our Role
- Hydrology & Hydraulics: used hydraulic modeling to conduct field route refinement studies and design nine large culvert/battery fish passage crossings; completed hydraulic design for multispan bridge crossings that accounted for hazards from flooding, snow, and ice
- Structural Engineering: provided structural design of two bridges, incorporating an innovative tub-girder rapid construction design to reduce the construction duration and manpower required for installing the bridges in the field
- Surveying: conducted a three-week, 47-mile, multiroute assessment and refinement survey; collected topographic and bathymetric data at critical bridge locations; identified cross-drainage culvert locations; and incorporated road alignment adjustments to suit terrain features
- OPEN CELL SHEET PILE™: designed an OPEN CELL™ system to support extremely heavy drill rigs and oil field modules
Arctic Engineering Expertise Delivers Complex Infrastructure Solutions
PND’s work on the Pikka project required extensive coordination with the client, neighboring landowners, and the STP barge designer to ensure compliance with environmental conditions and critical design requirements. During early design stages, PND conducted detailed studies to optimize the Miluveach Bridge’s span lengths and section weights based on transportation and construction constraints. Our team coordinated with multiple transporters to evaluate logistical options for moving materials to remote sites without existing road infrastructure.
PND provided adfreeze pile foundation design for facilities and bridges, thermal analyses, climate change analysis, and forecasting following Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change modeling methods for this expansive project north of the Arctic Circle.
These complex design and analysis efforts demonstrate PND’s ability to successfully engineer large-scale infrastructure in one of the world’s most challenging environments.
Barrels of Oil
expected to come from Pikka every day, supported by PND-designed infrastructure
Pounds per Square Foot
capacity of the STP Dock for large drill rigs and heavy oil field module offloads
Linear Feet
length of the Miluveach Bridge designed by PND
