Lynden supports Fairbanks demo and Greely nuclear facility demob

Photo by Robert Lype

Alaska West Express, Alaska Marine Lines, and LTI, Inc. teamed up to assist Waste Management and Coldfoot Environmental Services with the demolition of the landmark Polaris Building in Fairbanks. When constructed in 1952, the building was the tallest in the city. Hundreds of containers of rubble were hauled away, one truckload at a time, and transported out of state. "This project has been ongoing since last year," says Kevin Ward, Alaska West Express Operations Manager. Working together, the Lynden companies provided a seamless, start-to-finish service to the customer.

"Empty containers were transported from Seattle on the barge to Whittier and railed to our yard in Fairbanks," Kevin explains. "We trucked the containers on chassis to the project site for loading. Drivers brought the loaded containers back to our facility for loading to rail car. At the peak, we hauled 20 containers a day. The main push was to finish this project before weather started to transition to winter, risking postponing job completion to next year."

"In 2024, we shipped 43 containers south and, this year, we shipped 220," Kevin says. In Seattle, the containers were hauled by LTI, Inc. drivers from the AML dock to the Union Pacific rail yard for final delivery to Arlington, OR.

"Mark Reid and the Alaska Marine Trucking team were instrumental in getting the empty containers moving north and loads moving south," says Michael Brittenham, AML Account Manager. "The Anchorage team contributions in logistics and coordination with the Alaska Railroad were significant."

A similar multi-modal project is going on about 100 miles from Fairbanks at Fort Greely for the demobilization of the nuclear facility there. Lynden companies are providing pickup of contaminated soil and other radioactive materials and moving 20-foot containers to the rail barge in Whittier for the barge ride to Seattle. From the Seattle dock, Alaska West Express drivers haul the material to a Tacoma rail company for eventual disposal.

"Alaska West Express has the knowledge, training, and EPA waste transport credentials to perform this work," says Jason Warberg, Alaska West Express Tacoma Dispatcher. "We handled 13 containers within a 2-week time period supported by Alaska West Express drivers Earl Smiley, Matt Cottey, and Jerry Mandelke. We were able to perform this work in addition to our everyday ISO tank work in Seattle going to the AML barge. It's amazing what we can accomplish working together to support our Lynden team. Great work done by all."

So far, more than 100 containers have been transported for the specialized project, which includes AML moving empty open-top containers north on the barge and moving filled containers south. The multiyear project is set up in a similar fashion to the demolition services provided for the Polaris Building. "With our array of capabilities through Lynden, we have this type of work down to a science," Michael says. Another demobilization project for customer Waste Management is lined up at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.