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Docks and Harbors celebrates completion of Marine Park deckover project

Published 4:35 pm Monday, May 15, 2023

By Clarise Larson

City and Borough of Juneau Docks and Harbors Board Vice Chairman Jim Becker cuts a ribbon Monday afternoon stretched across the Seawalk downtown in celebration of the city’s completion of the Docks and Harbors Marine Deckover Project. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)
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City and Borough of Juneau Docks and Harbors Board Vice Chairman Jim Becker cuts a ribbon Monday afternoon stretched across the Seawalk downtown in celebration of the city’s completion of the Docks and Harbors Marine Deckover Project. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)

City and Borough of Juneau Docks and Harbors Board Vice Chairman Jim Becker cuts a ribbon Monday afternoon stretched across the Seawalk downtown in celebration of the city’s completion of the Docks and Harbors Marine Deckover Project. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)
City and Borough of Juneau Docks and Harbors board vice chairman Jim Becker cuts a ribbon Monday afternoon stretched across the Seawalk downtown in celebration of the city’s completion of the Docks and Harbors Marine Deckover Project. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)
City and Borough of Juneau Port Director Carl Uchytil smiles Monday afternoon at the Seawalk as he gives a speech celebrating the city’s completion of the Docks and Harbors Marine Deckover Project. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)
The Docks and Harbors Marine Deckover Project extends the existing Seawalk into Marine Park via an Americans with Disabilities Act-accessible dock structure and lengthens the waterfront from Merchant’s Wharf to Franklin Dock. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)

Though it might not look to be all that mighty of a feat, the City and Borough of Juneau’s Docks and Harbors Marine Deckover Project was anything but easy, according to Port Director Carl Uchytil Monday afternoon.

“This was a very challenging project,” he said.

Around a dozen residents and city officials gathered at the beginning of the downtown Seawalk under a bright sunny sky to witness the ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the successful completion of the project which extends the existing Seawalk into Marine Park via an Americans with Disabilities Act-accessible dock structure and lengthens the waterfront from Merchant’s Wharf to Franklin Dock.

Planning and design work for the roughly $2.5 million project began in early 2020, and now the area’s completed upgrades include new timber for the ramp, a cast-in-place concrete dock, new safety railings and improved lighting of the area.

In total, the project’s construction took from October 2022 to April of this year to complete, Uchytil said, and during that time the construction efforts saw a fair share of challenges like an “unseasonably cold winter,” changing tides and taking precautions to avoid impacting marine life in the area.

However, Uchytil and CBJ Harbormaster Matthew Crestwell said the project was a success and will further enhance the waterfront experience in Juneau.

• Contact reporter Clarise Larson at clarise.larson@juneauempire.com or (651)-528-1807.

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