The state ferry terminal in Skagway reopened for service on Thursday, Sept. 10, after a four-week closure to make extensive emergency repairs.
Crews completed repairs to all 19 anchor chains and secured the floating dock several days ahead of the reopening, then the contractor, Hamilton Construction, reset the vehicle transfer bridge and passenger gangway on Sept. 7, according to an announcement by the Alaska Marine Highway System on Sept. 8.
Repairs to the concrete abutment holding up the transfer bridge were made earlier in the month, allowing time for the concrete to cure before putting the bridge and gangway back in place.
The terminal reopened after workers completed operational checks, including restoring electricity and inspecting the float movement and its alignment after the anchor chain repairs.
“It was fairly extensive repair work that was done there,” said Gabe Strong, spokesman for the ferry system.
The Hubbard was the first ferry to arrive at the repaired dock, pulling into Skagway on Thursday, Sept. 10, followed the next day by the LeConte, as the Marine Highway System restored its scheduled service.
Cracks were observed in the concrete abutment supporting the vehicle transfer bridge and passenger walkway on Aug 13. Further inspection found that the cracks were spreading. The state shut down the terminal two days later for an accelerated repair project.
Subsequent underwater inspections discovered further damage needing repair.
“The Skagway port is an important one,” Strong said. “Haines and Skagway are the two ports here in Southeast where you can connect to the road system, so to have that go out was obviously a big inconvenience — a big hardship to a lot of people.”
During the service outage, travelers to and from Skagway were able to catch a state ferry in Haines, with a six-hour drive between Haines and Skagway, or, if they did not have a vehicle, there is a private operator that runs a passenger shuttle between the two Lynn Canal communities.
