The recent rash of articles and “letters to the editor” about the Juneau Access Road has prompted me to remind Gov. Bill Walker and the general public of the considerable geohazards associated with this particular project.
It has been over six years since I authored a My Turn that detailed these hazards. Nothing has changed in the intervening time. The state has built roads and railroads through avalanche terrain before, but never as severe as East Lynn Canal, where a driver risks not only being buried in snow or rock, but also being swept into a deep fjord.
Here is a summary of the daunting geotechnical hazards that plague this route:
1. At least 43 snow avalanche chutes threaten the road. Studies commissioned by DOTPF estimate road closures of anywhere from 12-26 days per winter due to avalanches, with mitigation costs of $1.5 million per year. Gov. Walker proclaimed November Avalanche Awareness Education Month. The best way to avoid an avalanche is to stay out of avalanche terrain, and the best thing the state can do to help people stay out of avalanche terrain is not build roads beneath avalanche chutes.
2. At least 100 geologic hazards (an average of five per mile) exist, mostly rock-fall and debris-flow hazards. Of these, 39 (or 35 percent) are rated as “A” hazards in geotechnical reports commissioned by the Department of Transportation. That means that the hazard has affected the proposed route within the past 25 years and that failure would be of sufficient volume to close the highway for several days to weeks, and could also result in loss of the roadway structure. There is no discussion of potential road closures due to geohazards such as rock slides and debris flows onto the road in the DOT Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement.
3. Three major bridges, each about a half-mile in length, are proposed to span major drainages at the head of Berber’s Bay: the Antler, Lacy and Katzehin rivers. All three drainages are subject to large glacier outburst flooding from glacier-dammed lakes. Such floods can severally impact structures, yet the DOT SEIS does not provide any details on how bridge construction will mitigate such flooding and potential damage.
4. The safety of the work zone will be an issue. Contractors themselves will be exposed to natural geologic and avalanche hazards during the construction phase. In addition, undercutting slopes can easily trigger slides and avalanches. The human and monetary costs to the state of these hazards during construction are a considerable project risk.
5. There is neither a discussion of potential damage from earthquakes and tsunamis nor of any additional costs for earthquake-proofing ferry terminal facilities or bridges in the DOT documents. The upper Lynn Canal is known to be seismically active. Tsunamis can be generated either by earthquakes or by landslides into the canal. The latter danger already exists across from the proposed Katzehin ferry terminal site where unstable slopes lie above the Haines highway. The Katzehin River delta itself could become unstable during a strong earthquake.
DOT estimates $574 million to build the road (roughly $20,000 per Juneauite). However, detailed analysis of the DOT SEIS indicates numerous hidden costs associated with mitigating geohazards and construction in difficult terrain. Such costs could significantly drive up expenditures well beyond the DOT estimate.
Some areas are so rugged Golder Associates field personal — the firm hired by DOT to asses geotechnical risk — as well as experienced mountain climbers were unable to negotiate passage. Using DOT’s own estimates, the present ferry system would save the state roughly $5 million per year over building and maintain a 50-mile road and a new ferry terminal at Katzehin. And what would all this expenditure of state and federal funds to build a dead-end road buy us? Shortening the trip to Haines or Skagway by an hour or two, and we would still have to take a ferry. That is if the road is not closed due to avalanches, landslides or blizzards.
• Roman Motyka is a research professor emeritus with the Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska, and has been conducting geological and geophysical studies in Alaska for over 40 years.
