Kivalina Bridge.
Fought & Company Fabricates Future Evacuation Route in Kivalina Alaska.
Kivalina, Alaska
The village of Kivalina, Alaska, a barrier island off the Chukchi Sea 80 miles north of the Arctic Circle, has been threatened by erosion caused by wave action and sea storms for several decades. Increases in the frequency and intensity of sea storms, degradation and melting of permafrost, and accelerated erosion of the shoreline have recently forced the village into a state of emergency. Sea storms have eroded the shoreline out from underneath several structures and threaten the airstrip. Emergency erosion-control measures are in place, but will only slow the sea’s inevitable inundation of the island. The community must relocate to survive, but faces disagreements about the best relocation site and how to fund the move. With each new storm, the threat of erosion continues.
Fought & Company is joining the effort with the fabrication of the Kivalina Bridge, consisting of four large girders, each spanning 188 feet, and weighing just under a total of 200 tons. The bridge serves to provide safe passage for residents, while preserving the natural flow of ocean tide in and out of the Kivalina Lagoon. Rock and soil extracted from a nearby mine connects to the bridge. This future evacuation route designed to support the community’s relocation is scheduled to open next summer.
To learn more about Kivalina, and to understand it’s residents and the challenges they face, please click the following link:
https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2019/09/photos-impacts-climate-change-kivalina-alaska/598282/
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