> Aviation
> Ground Transportation
> Highways
> Urban Highways
> Rail
> Trails
> Environmental
> NEPA
> Field Studies
> Permitting
PDC plans and designs transportation systems throughout Alaska. Alaska is a diverse region with multiple modes of transportation serving its 375 million acres. Across this immense area, varying soil conditions, topography, hydrology, and environmental concerns (wetlands, wildlife, archaeological resources, etc.) offer challenges for our engineers to overcome.
Transport of people and goods is essential for the social and economic well-being of Alaska’s nearly 400 communities. PDC’s engineers provide expert services in Ground Transportation such as highways, rail and trails, as well as aviation. Our in-house environmental team provides the support needed to ensure successful NEPA documentation and permits.
Our projects are as diverse as the state. We service rural Alaskan communities with as few as 80 people and the major cities of Anchorage and Fairbanks.
“…we had very good luck with your design. It was very complete and straight forward, there were virtually no overruns, it makes our job in construction a lot easier…PDC deserve[s] a pat on the back for your major contribution to an excellent project.” – Sean Holland (Construction Project Manager, ADOT&PF).
PDC’s aviation team has a long established history that includes large international airports, rural airstrips, and military airfields. From the new Heavy Cargo Apron at Fairbanks International Airport, to the complete relocation of the Manokotak Airport, to a fuel hydrant system at Elmendorf Air Force Base, our designs have received glowing comments from our clients.
PDC’s contribution to the aviation industry has provided a lifeline for many rural communities, who rely on their airports for medical evacuations, delivery of goods, and transport of people. We provide designs for state-of-the art airfield and approach lighting systems, ensuring safe and reliable passenger and cargo landings. Our location and airspace studies, feasibility studies, and full airport master plans help Alaska communities plan for the future.
Our multidiscipline aviation team consists of civil, electrical, mechanical, and structural engineers, environmental analysts, and surveyors.
Our work includes:
- Airport master plans
- Apron paving and patching
- Location studies
- Drainage master plans
- Environmental assessments
- Extensive storm drainage systems
- Airport relocation
- Oil/water separators
- Design
- Fire training facilities
- Overlays
- Taxiways
- Aircraft rescue and firefighting facilities (ARFF)
- Hardstands
- Snow removal equipment buildings (SREB)
PDC has a full-service team to address the needs of your particular transportation problem. This array includes land surveyors and civil engineers to gather the field data, environmental analysts to evaluate impacts, a multidisciplined design staff to craft designs, and professional managers to keep each project on time and within budget.
Your project will be successful because we strive to integrate the planning, engineering design, public and agency coordination, and environmental permitting. This approach enables the early identification of potential concerns in order to minimize and accommodate their effect on the overall project schedule and budget. We maintain an open-door policy with public agencies and clients and make sure our clients are fully informed of work in progress and kept abreast of all issues as they arise.
Highways
PDC has planned and designed hundreds of miles of highways in more than 35 major projects spanning Alaska from the Dalton Highway on the North Slope south to Cordova and west to Nome. Work includes new roads, re-alignment, gravel to pavement improvements, and 3R (reconstruction, rehabilitation, and resurfacing) projects.
Urban Highways
Our planning and design market includes high-speed, multi-lane mobility corridors as well as urban streets through commercial areas.
Expressway work includes both at-grade intersections and grade-separated interchanges. Interchange styles include diamond, urban, cloverleaf, and dog bone.
Our work on urban streets through commercial areas often includes traffic calming features, streetscape amenities, and pedestrian-friendly facilities, all with the intent of making the commercial area an attractive destination.
Rail
PDC designs new construction, upgrades, and rehabilitation for a number of rail facilities (railcar maintenance shops, loading and unloading facilities, coal handling), miles of track, and overcrossings and overpasses to eliminate at-grade intersections with highways. PDC’s work includes upgrading Eielson AFB’s 26 miles of rail to new standards, with replacement of the bridges and coal handling siding. In Fairbanks, we designed a new balloon track, intermodal freight yard, and passenger terminal. We have also performed surveys for the Northern Rail Extension project.
Trails
Trail experience includes location planning, environmental assessment, and design of several miles of riverfront trails, including railings, fences, signage, bridges, road crossings and viewpoints. PDC has also planned and designed new park trails and relocations of rural utility vehicle trails.
PDC understands the importance of balancing our client’s needs with each project’s impacts on humans and their natural environment. People need access to goods and services, and every project must ensure that any negative impacts on human health and well-being are nondiscriminatory and as minimal as possible. The health of our environment is also vitally important. Finding the balance between the needs of our client, the public, and our environment is one of PDC’s strengths.
PDC helps our clients provide needed public services in the most cost-efficient and environmentally friendly manner. Through environmentally-aware engineering and the public process, we identify issues early, so that avoidance and mitigation can be applied to keep the project moving forward.
NEPA
PDC coordinates the design and environmental needs while leading transportation and utilities projects through the NEPA process. Each federal agency has its own interpretation and procedures to comply with NEPA. Our environmental professionals have completed projects sponsored by many of these agencies, including EPA, FAA, FHWA, FTA, HUD, and USDA. We work with our clients to provide the lowest cost alternatives with the best likelihood of approval for funding.
Field Studies
It is important to look at the ground level to assess a site. Field studies provide this essential first hand data. Two of the most common field studies needed for Alaska projects are for wetlands and hazardous materials.
It is estimated that more than half of the remaining wetlands in the U.S. are in Alaska, making up at least 45% of the state’s land area. Thus, almost every project we work on in Alaska involves wetlands. We work closely with regulatory agencies, engineers, and our clients to find the best measures possible to avoid, minimize, or mitigate impacts to these fragile resources.
In the past, people were not as careful to protect the environment as we are today. As a result, soil and water contamination, especially from petroleum products, is common in developed areas. When projects are located on or adjacent to previously occupied land, we conduct Environmental Site Assessments to determine whether hazardous materials are likely to be present and whether they can be avoided. When contaminated soil or water cannot be avoided, we work closely with regulatory agencies, engineers, and our clients to develop the best plan for remediation.
Permitting
The permitting process is a means for the state and federal governments to monitor and control the use of resources. PDC works with clients and engineers to ensure their facilities meet permit requirements. We provide the agencies with the information needed to determine a project’s eligibility for the requisite permits. Sometimes it takes getting the agencies, client, and engineers into one room to come up with a sound plan to make a project meet everyone’s needs; we do that too.
