Repairs to damages on the Kenai Public Dock caused by earthquakes were substantially complete as of Friday, with remaining work scheduled for the next week or so, Kenai Public Works Director Scott Curtin said.
The dock, which was built in 1986, sustained damage from multiple earthquakes, including in November of 2018. Specifically, the concrete dock that the dock’s steel piles are attached to cracked at many of the bolted connections.
In addition to repairing those connections with steel plates, grout and new bolts, the project scope also included installing a cathodic protection system, which is meant to prevent the steel piles from rusting or corroding any more. The dock has a structural steel foundation.
Curtin said Friday that a final commission of the cathodic protection system by engineers is still needed, but the system has been installed and that review is expected to happen in the next week.
Because most of the funding for the repairs came from the city’s insurance claim, the repairs are not included in Kenai’s FY22-26 Capital Improvement Plan, which outlines upcoming maintenance projects in the city. Kenai received a roughly $37,000 grant from the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission as part of the Gulf of Alaska Pink Salmon Disaster declared in 2018, which were used for the cathodic protection system.
Kenai contracted with Endries Company for the repair work and entered into an agreement with the company last summer for about $300,000. The Kenai City Council separately approved a purchase order of $15,000 in additional contingency funds to be used by Endries for any unforeseen costs.
As of Friday, Curtin said the city had received about $241,000 through insurance for the other repairs. The balance, Curtin said, will be paid for with city dollars toward Kenai’s insurance deductible.
More information on the project can be found on the City of Kenai’s website at kenai.city.
Reach reporter Ashlyn O’Hara at ashlyn.ohara@peninsulaclarion.com.
