Revetment Maintenance Funding Approved

The Mat-Su Borough Assembly approved nearly $300,000 to perform maintenance and repairs on the Talkeetna revetment protecting the shoreline.

Ice flows and floods damaged the emergency repairs made last fall. That’s according to Borough Environmental Engineer Mike Campfield. He says a lot of rock was lost and shifted earlier this year. 

Also included in the project budget is funding to repair and maintain the dike at the railroad bridge. Campfield says this will hopefully set it back to its original 1979 status. 

The dike protecting the shoreline at the end of Talkeetna’s Main Street was extended in 2017. Repairs will hopefully get the protection back to that level. 

The Borough’s revetment is funded by a special service area. One of the conditions of the construction in 1979 was that the Borough establish a special service area to raise funds for maintenance. It is the legal mechanism for maintaining the project. 

This year’s funding will only cover maintenance and repairs. While an Army Corps of Engineers study conducted last year showed the need for more extensive erosion protection, federal funding has not come through for it.

Campfield says the site is still at risk because the flow regime has changed over the last 45 years. Repair work is expected to be completed in September or October.