LUTHERAN QUILTERS – Members of the Quilts for Comfort Group stand between pews draped with some of the 205 quilts they made, in the Sitka Lutheran Church Tuesday. The group made the quilts for five local non-profits and one in Anchorage. The remaining quilts are sent to Lutheran World Relief which  distributes them to places around the world in need, such as Ukraine, as part of Personal Care Kits. Pictured are, from left, Helen Cunningham, Kathleen Brandt,Vicki Swanson, Paulla Hardy, Kim Hunter, Linda Swanson and Sue Fleming.  (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)

State's Transportation Plan Gets Federal OK
28 Mar 2024 15:06

By JAMES BROOKS
Alaska Beacon
    Federal officials on Wednesday approved most of Alaska’s four-y [ ... ]

New Funding Plan Ahead for Visit Sitka?
28 Mar 2024 15:02

By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
    At an hour-long work session with the Assembly Tuesda [ ... ]

Sitka 'Frankenstein' Puts Classic Tale in New Ligh...
28 Mar 2024 15:01

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Sports Editor
    The story behind a classic, though often misunderstoo [ ... ]

State May Los Millions Over Ed Dept. Missteps
28 Mar 2024 14:59

By CLAIRE STREMPLE
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    The state government risks losing millions of dollars in feder [ ... ]

Gov Signs Bill On Internet In State Schools
28 Mar 2024 14:57

By JAMES BROOKS
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    Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy on Wednesday signed a bill that promise [ ... ]

Capitol Christmas Tree to Come from Tongass
28 Mar 2024 14:56

By YERETH ROSEN
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    Alaska’s Tongass National Forest, known for its steep mountains [ ... ]

City League Games Thursday
28 Mar 2024 14:52

By Sentinel Staff
    Playing Wednesday in competitive division City League volleyball matches, Ca [ ... ]

March 28, 2024, Police Blotter
28 Mar 2024 14:50

Police Blotter
Sitka police received the following calls by 8 a.m. today:
March 27
At 2:36 p.m. a dead  [ ... ]

March 28, 2024, Community Happenings
28 Mar 2024 14:48

This Week in Girls on the Run By Sitkans Against Family Violence
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27 Mar 2024 14:48

By GARLAND KENNEDY
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Seiners Get Second Day with 2 Areas to Fish
27 Mar 2024 14:46

By Sentinel Staff
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Braves Take Second in Last Minute Upset
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    After storming into the state 3A boys basketball brac [ ... ]

Tuesday City League Volleyball
27 Mar 2024 12:39

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27 Mar 2024 12:37

By SHIRLEY SNEVE
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House Hearing on Inmate Deaths Halted
27 Mar 2024 12:35

By CLAIRE STREMPLE
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Nominee to Bering Sea Council: Not a Trawler
27 Mar 2024 12:34

By NATHANIEL HERZ
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March 27, 2024, Police Blotter
27 Mar 2024 12:26

Police Blotter
Sitka police received the following calls by 8 a.m. today:
March 26
At 2:10 p.m. a man e [ ... ]

March 27, 2024, Community Happenings
27 Mar 2024 12:25

Big Rigs Sought
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26 Mar 2024 15:22

By SHANNON HAUGLAND
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    The city’s reassessment of taxable real estate, alo [ ... ]

Two Areas Opened in Herring Fishery Today
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By Sentinel Staff
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Lady Wolves Rally to Take Fourth at State
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By GARLAND KENNEDY
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Edgecumbe Girls Close Out Season Up North
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By GARLAND KENNEDY
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26 Mar 2024 14:55

By Sentinel Staff
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By JAMES BROOKS
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Other Articles

Daily Sitka Sentinel

Better Weather Brings Out Highway Crews

By TOM HESSE
Sentinel Staff Writer
    Construction crews were working today to take advantage of the midweek break in the weather to get back on track with the $20 million repaving of Halibut Point Road.

ASRC McGraw flagger Lisa Bolt stops traffic on a stretch of Halibut Road near Cascade Creek this afternoon. Work on the state highway is picking up with the recent break in the weather. (Sentinel Photo)



    Weeks of rain have narrowed the construction window on the project, already set back nearly a month by problems related to concrete patches in the old pavement. Al Clough, Southeast Region Director for the Alaska Department of Transportation, said workers spent the last two weeks simply trying to keep the road drivable, let alone to pave, where the pavement has been removed.
    “Once it’s ground up and it starts raining on it then it’s just a real pain in the neck,” Clough said.
    The paving process involves four parts, the first of which involves grinding up the old blacktop pavement. That’s how far crews had gotten on the two-mile stretch of road just past Sea Mart when the skies opened up. Clough said the contractor was then forced to do whatever was possible just to make the road drivable, because the second part of the paving process can’t   be done in the rain.
    That part of the process involves mixing the ground up particles of the old pavement with, among other things, dry concrete and laying it down as a road base. The mixture is called crushed asphalt base course and it has to be laid down dry.
    “That forms a very durable base for the new roadway to be constructed upon. Unfortunately, that product, the cement, can only be added in essentially dry conditions,” Clough said. 
    Once the base course in laid down, a layer called asphalt treated base (ATB) goes in, which can be done in wet conditions. The last part is the final top coat of hot mix asphalt,which also needs to be installed in relatively dry conditions.
    The problem is that conditions haven’t been very dry in Sitka and the calendar is turning quickly to fall and the start of the real rainy season.
    The DOT has fielded a number of complaints on the project recently, and Clough said he understands the frustration. The concrete patches that forced work to stop set the project schedule back, and Clough said the weather has just made things tougher.
    “It certainly has not been a typical August anywhere in the panhandle,” he said. “It’s just slowed things down and there’s not a darn thing we can do about it.”
    One thing crews are doing is to do as much as possible on the nice days. Clough said the DOT is taking steps to speed up the process, including bringing in an additional asphalt pulverizer from Prince of Wales.
    “We actually put in a change in the contract that actually doubled the grinding capacity. They’re now able to grind at a much faster rate so when the weather does cooperate they’re able to grind much faster,” he said.
    A plan is in place if the total job is not finished on schedule. Clough said the road would not be left unpaved, but instead a temporary layer of ATB, which can be applied in the rain, would be put down.
    “If we totally got snookered by weather we could go out there and install a thin layer of ATB that would essentially be sacrificial and just kind of button it up for winter.”
    “We’re not to that yet but that would sort of be the ultimate fallback,” Clough said. Road contractors in Juneau had to take that step this past winter because they ran up against the weather deadline, he said.
    Clough said paving late into the year is not an option because dropping temperatures could affect the quality of the pavement.
    That said, Clough is hoping the Sitka job doesn’t come to that.
    “I’m still optimistic, especially with getting the change in the weather this week. We’ll just keep plugging away with the five and a half weeks left to finish it,” he said.
    With the improved weather Tuesday and today, Clough is hoping crews can get through the third step of the paving process on that two-mile stretch past Sea Mart.
    “What we can tell the people in Sitka is we are working the best we can to get this project completed this summer, and if the weather cooperates we’ll be doing everything we can to get that road done.”

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20 YEARS AGO

March 2004

Advertisement: Tea-Licious Tea House & Bakery 315 Lincoln Street Grand Opening! Freshly Baked Scones, Cakes & Pastries Innovative Salads, Soups & Sandwiches Harney & Sons Tea. Lunch * Afternoon Tea * Supper.

50 YEARS AGO

March 1974

Photo caption: National Republican Chairman George Bush takes a drink of water offered by Jan Craddick, Sitka delegate, during the Republican convention held here. Mrs. Craddick explained to Bush that the water was from Indian River, which means, according to local legend, that he will return.

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