The village of Ekwok, Alaska needed a new landfill and bridge to access it. Their existing landfill was at capacity and posed environmental and safety issues. A suitable new landfill site was found across Klutuk Creek, but there was no existing way to access it. The Ekwok Village Council worked for 10 years to secure over $5 million in funding for the new landfill and bridge project. Nucor Skyline provided a value-engineered design using double Z-shaped sheet piles for the bridge abutments, saving $1.1 million and allowing the project to be completed within budget. The sheet pile design reduced construction challenges and costs compared to the original design.
The village of Ekwok, Alaska needed a new landfill and bridge to access it. Their existing landfill was at capacity and posed environmental and safety issues. A suitable new landfill site was found across Klutuk Creek, but there was no existing way to access it. The Ekwok Village Council worked for 10 years to secure over $5 million in funding for the new landfill and bridge project. Nucor Skyline provided a value-engineered design using double Z-shaped sheet piles for the bridge abutments, saving $1.1 million and allowing the project to be completed within budget. The sheet pile design reduced construction challenges and costs compared to the original design.
The village of Ekwok, Alaska needed a new landfill and bridge to access it. Their existing landfill was at capacity and posed environmental and safety issues. A suitable new landfill site was found across Klutuk Creek, but there was no existing way to access it. The Ekwok Village Council worked for 10 years to secure over $5 million in funding for the new landfill and bridge project. Nucor Skyline provided a value-engineered design using double Z-shaped sheet piles for the bridge abutments, saving $1.1 million and allowing the project to be completed within budget. The sheet pile design reduced construction challenges and costs compared to the original design.
The village of Ekwok, Alaska needed a new landfill and bridge to access it. Their existing landfill was at capacity and posed environmental and safety issues. A suitable new landfill site was found across Klutuk Creek, but there was no existing way to access it. The Ekwok Village Council worked for 10 years to secure over $5 million in funding for the new landfill and bridge project. Nucor Skyline provided a value-engineered design using double Z-shaped sheet piles for the bridge abutments, saving $1.1 million and allowing the project to be completed within budget. The sheet pile design reduced construction challenges and costs compared to the original design.
HISTORY Ekwok Village is a small, remote village in Alaska located along the Nushagak River, 43 miles northeast of Dillingham, and 285 miles southwest of Anchorage. The village of 115 people is accessible only by air and the river. The name Ekwok means “end of the bluff,” and it is the oldest continuously occupied Yup’ik Eskimo village on the river. The village was used as a fish camp in the spring and summer during the 1800s, and as a base for berry- picking in the fall. Many of the earliest homes in Ekwok were located in a low, flat area near the riverbank. After a severe flood in the early 1960s, villagers relocated to higher ground at the current location.
PROBLEM As early as 2003, the village council realized that their landfill was at capacity. In addition, the existing landfill did not meet Federal Aviation Administration Standards, as it was too close to the runway, local housing, and the medical clinic. The community’s water source, a shallow aquifer, was also in danger of contamination due to the close proximity of the landfill.
A suitable site for the new landfill was found,
just west of the village. Unfortunately, the new site was located on the opposite side of the Klutuk Creek, which was only accessible during winter with no existing crossing.
After a site was chosen, the challenge of
funding the project began. Not only did the landfill site need to be funded, but there was also the question of an access road and a bridge to cross the creek. The Ekwok Village Council worked tirelessly for almost ten years to procure funding for the project, eventually receiving over $5 million dollars from state and federal organizations.
Unmatched Product Range Material Availability Manufacturing Capabilities Innovative Applications and Engineering Expertise CASE STUDY
Ekwok Bridge
SOLUTION The project’s general contractor, STG, Inc.,
PROJECT PARTNERS A bridge needed to be constructed over the approached Nucor Skyline for assistance Owner Klutuk Creek to connect the Ekwok Village with a value-engineered design. The newly Ekwok Village Council and the with the new landfill area. The village hoped designed bridge abutment used 40 double City of Ekwok that the bridge would eventually lead to the Z-shaped steel sheet piles. These piles were 40 General Contractor development of more roads and power lines feet long, and were driven into the soil using STG, Inc. – Anchorage, AK that would connect Ekwok and other villages. a vibratory hammer. The soil behind the wall was excavated for installation of the deadman Engineers The project presented multiple challenges wall and the #18 tie rods. After installation, Bristol Engineering Services Corporation for Bristol Engineering Services Corporation, backfill was placed and compacted behind the – Anchorage, AK the engineering firm hired to work on the abutment wall. design. Heavy trucks were needed to transport PRODUCT materials to the site, and also allowed the Working with and utilizing Nucor Skyline’s Sheet Pile: Z-shaped, ASTM A572 Gr. 50 firm to choose a modular pre-fabricated steel sheet piles, STG was able to provide a value bridge to span the creek. As the bridge itself engineered savings of $1.1M to the Ekwok Threaded Bar: #18 A615 Gr. 75 did not have to be constructed on site, this Village Council, thus putting the total cost Waler: 157 linear feet of Double choice helped to keep costs at a minimum. within their budget and making the project C12x20.7 become a reality. The original design called for a bin wall with Bent Plate Cap: 184 linear feet The sheet pile abutments reduced the need to a significant amount of rip rap. Restrictions on the volume of material that can be barged drill, blast, and produce rip-rap rock, as well PROJECT TIME FRAME up the Nushagak River, and the extremely as eliminate four barge loads to the Village June 2015 to June 2016 remote location of the jobsite, proved to be of Ekwok. This saved the project nearly two a challenge. It was prohibitively expensive to months during the course of construction. barge the required quantity of rock to the area.
888.450.4330 For technical questions and engineering support, please contact us via our technical www.nucorskyline.com hotline at: 1-866-875-9546 or email us at: engineering@nucorskyline.com.
