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MARRIAGE OF PORT AND RAIL: ANOTHER ALASKA SUCCESS STORY
by Kathryn G. Arlen
Spawning a creative idea, crafting an innovative product, or discovering a useful commodity is one thing, yet it is still another to effectively communicate that idea, successfully market that item, or transport the essential commodity to a critical, larger population. To discover, explore, develop, market, and distribute: basic mining mantra.
“Transportation-challenged” is one adequate definition of Alaska’s infrastructure, particularly appropriate for the mining industry. Yet the current Port Mackenzie Rail Extension Project (estimated completion date 2012/2013) will soon provide relief for both current and future mines as it will significantly expand shipping capabilities for bulk materials and natural resources including minerals, coal, limestone, sand, gravel, and other aggregates.
Port development itself, with a deep draft dock requiring no dredging, began approximately ten years ago and included 9000 acres previously allocated solely for development purposes. “It’s land zoned for industrial use, set aside way ahead of time,” commented Dave Hanson, Economic Development Director of the Matanuska-Susitna (Mat-Su) Borough. “And having little development around it now, we don’t have the NIMBY problem. (‘Not In My BackYard.’) It has always been felt that the port needed to be attached by a rail spur or extension to the Alaska Railroad as people realized that would be needed eventually.”
Brief capsulization of the combination railroad/deep port project includes five phase development beginning in 2007 with an environmental impact survey (EIS) conducted by the Surface Transportation Board (STB.) The STB by law has sole authority over environmental impact studies for all rail extensions in the country and also decides which of three proposed extension routes will be selected. Middle phases include construction of the first base 11 miles while the STB considers three possible route extensions in the Anchorage area: Willow, Houston, and Big Lake-- each offering different possibilities and advantages.
The fifth and final phase provides for all construction, i.e. laying rail, installing signals, etc. aiming at a probable 2012 completion date. With funding already appropriated and environmental concerns adequately addressed, the Port Mackenzie Rail Extension Project, connecting to Alaska’s one and only railroad, is the rare success-story-ready-to-happen for critical mineral development in Alaska’s interior. Hanson elaborated on the new advantages the rail/port extension will bring to Alaska’s mining industry:
“First thing, you save a lot of money. At any time when you’re talking about any bulk material, when you’re transporting and depending on the cost of gas, it’s about one third the cost to transport a ton by train as it is by truck. Second is the saved time and avoiding the congestion in the Anchorage area. It just takes a lot longer to deal with the port of Anchorage where you don’t have a rail loop.” Hanson especially emphasized, however, that “We aren’t trying to take away from Anchorage. They import containers. We are [actually] trying to complement Anchorage by primarily doing bulk material going both north and south… Anchorage just doesn’t have room [for handling bulk materials.]”
A third factor Hanson discussed is the fact that Port Mackenzie is dredged to 55-60 feet, capable of handling Cape-sized vessels, whereas the Anchorage port depth extends to a shallower 30 feet. Having direct rail access to a port capable of world-wide shipping capabilities is critical for sustaining and stimulating mineral development. “Because, if you’re dealing with bulk minerals, and we’re not talking gold,” he continued, “you have to get it out of the ground, sort it, getting the richest rock together--then you ship it in aggregate to a mill. You need rail access to do that.”
Another future, popular state project potentially benefiting from the rail loop extension is the proposed gasline. “First,” Hanson began, “we again avoid bringing pipe into a congested port, and you’ve cut off miles. We are setting up that deep-water dock where you can efficiently unload the pipe without trucks turning around. We already have the 100 acres set aside for the 40 foot lengths of pipe to be welded together (making 80 feet lengths,) treated, then ‘slung on’ to the 90 foot long rail cars.”
The entire scope of the rail extension project doesn’t solve the ongoing lack of transportation infrastructure in Alaska, but it definitely addresses the issue. “We don’t have roads to wherever new mines may be, or rail, so the best we can do is improve the rail to tide water [ocean shipping shore] the easiest and least expensive way you can, and the cheapest way to transport it all is by barge or ship.”
Could this improved transportation system in Alaska positively affect the rest of the nation, for both mining and general economic issues? “This is definitely beneficial to the whole country in that Alaska is a vast storehouse of undeveloped minerals,” Hanson concluded, emphasizing that “we have both strategic and national security minerals, and by doing this we are opening those up to economic development. “
One final comment: “We are also helping the Gross National Product (GNP) in our export/import balance of payments because we are developing exports, and, except for what we need in the United States, much of this will go overseas to the Pacific Rim and to places where we essentially owe money, so we are helping our balance of payments by exporting more natural resources that involve payments back to us.” Like China? “Yes, like China.”
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