OPINION: Is Alaska paying to replace bridges to benefit a mining company?

Is Alaska’s state government about to replace highway bridges under a fraudulent pretense?

That well may be the case if the Dunleavy administration follows through on plans to replace two bridges near Fairbanks using federal Bridge Replacement and Rehabilitation funds.

Those in question — the northbound lanes over the Chena Flood Control Project on the Richardson Highway and over Chena Hot Springs Road on the Steese Highway — are both perfectly functional modern bridges handling all routine traffic, including semi trucks. There is no justifiable reason to replace them now or in the foreseeable future.

The intent of the federal law is to repair bridges actually needing repair. According to Deputy Federal Highway Administrator Stephanie Pollack, funds will allow states “to fix the bridges most in need of repair,” adding that, “every state has bridges in poor condition and in need of repair, including bridges with weight restrictions that may force lengthy detours for travelers, school buses, first responders or trucks carrying freight.”

So why replace the fully functional Chena Hot Springs Road bridge? Why replace the northbound Chena Flood Control bridge when its twin, the southbound bridge, doesn’t require replacement? Neither is in “poor condition” or “in need of repair,” nor does using them cause detours or impede trucks carrying freight. Why the rush to premature replacement?

It seems the answer is that the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (AKDOT&PF) has made it a priority to facilitate the hauling of privately owned gold ore (not freight) for the benefit of Canadian mining company Kinross Gold, and their co-owner, Texas-based Contango Ore. These companies plan to use 16-axle, 52-wheel, 95-foot, 82.5-ton B-train trucks to carry ore 250 miles from Manh Choh mine near Tok to the Fort Knox mine north of Fairbanks for processing. Their plan calls for loads every few minutes, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year for several years. Kinross’s ore trucks are too heavy for most existing bridges in Alaska, including those along their planned route via the Alaska, Richardson and Steese highways.

Repairing and replacing five bridges along this route wasn’t important enough to be contained in the approved FY 2024 budget. But on Feb. 14, Alaska DOT announced the now-urgent bridge replacement plan in a news release.

In what appears to be an attempt to camouflage its true goal, the Dunleavy administration’s news release lumped the Richardson and Steese Highway bridges with three older bridges on the Alaska Highway that do need to be replaced. The release explained in detail why the Robertson, Gerstle and Johnson River bridges were deficient. Glaringly omitted was any explanation of why the Richardson and Steese bridges (which are more than 35 years newer) needed replacement! Why? The only logical explanation for replacement is to accommodate private companies hauling private property (ore) in overweight loads.

The release hints at this arrangement, saying “the need for their replacement have been part of the conversations surrounding proposed mining development that would affect the Alaska, Richardson, and Steese Highways.”

This prompts several important questions: When and where were these “conversations surrounding proposed mining development?” Who initiated the “conversations?” Is there a public record of them, when and where they occurred, and who was present? If so, where is the public record? If it’s not readily available, why not?

Specifically, who in the Dunleavy administration gave the green light to replace the functional Richardson and Steese Highway bridges, apparently to accommodate this specific ore-hauling plan? What was promised, and to whom?

Was the decision to replace the bridges made by licensed professional engineers at AKDOT&PF based on their research and knowledge? If not, who decided?

Is there a record of this decision? If so where is that paper trail and if not, why not?

Did the Permanent Fund’s 7% ownership of Contango Ore, kept secret from Alaskans until eventually revealed by Contango (and clearly a conflict of interest), have anything to do with the sudden need to replace these perfectly functional bridges?

Does anyone in the Dunleavy administration, Permanent Fund Board of Trustees, or any of their family members own stock in companies involved in this private ore-hauling project?

How can replacing the Richardson and Steese Highway bridges be justified using federal Bridge Replacement and Rehabilitation Fund money? Doing so unnecessarily doesn’t improve highway transportation for regular users. Without a doubt, other bridges in Alaska more urgently need repair or replacement than these two.

Are federal watchdogs monitoring the potential misuse of these funds? Should the FBI or the inspector general for the U.S. Department of Transportation be looking into this?

Gov. Mike Dunleavy needs to justify these plans and answer these questions. Alaskans deserve the truth.

Dirk Tordoff is a lifelong Alaskan and is a retired researcher and archivist. He resides in Fairbanks.

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