Aniak raises fears of flooding damage from airport project

Officials of a small village in western Alaska say the state’s project to realign a runway and a parallel road could run into problems when ice and snow melt in the spring.

Alaska’s Energy Desk reports the Aniak Airport is undergoing a runway construction project to meet federal aviation requirements, and it includes replacing a culvert.

Aniak city manager Kevin Toothacker says the runway next to the Kuskokwin River is in danger of flooding when ice jams form during the melt.

Toothacker says with a gate being added to the culvert and with the grade of the modified road, water could crest over it and compromise the road.

State Department of Transportation spokeswoman Shannon McCarthy says the new culvert is bigger and the gate should prevent such a washout.