Aklavik Road and Bridge, Northwest Territories
Tetra Tech is assisting the hamlet of Aklavik in the Beaufort Delta region of the Northwest Territories. Aklavik is dependent on seasonal access by air, ice-road, and barge for development activities, flood protection, regional health care, community services, and economic and social programs.
Through Nehtruh-EBA Consulting Ltd., our aboriginal partnership in the Gwich’in Settlement Area, Tetra Tech is planning and designing 19.2 kilometers (km) of all-weather access road and a bridge west of Aklavik. Currently, key resources to the west are reached by temporary bridges along a traditional trail. These structures tend to wash out during spring flooding, cutting Aklavik off from lands to the west. Of particular concern is a stream known as Bridge Creek.
The community has obtained initial funding from the Government of the Northwest Territories, Department of Transportation, for a proposed permanent bridge that would provide reliable, all-season access to the foothills of the Richardson Mountains. The proposed 33.5-meter-long bridge is to be located at Bridge Creek, approximately 6.4 kilometers from Aklavik. About 3.8 km of the route is along an existing traditional trail, which will form part of the future road.
Initially, the bridge will provide year-round access for harvesting, recreational, and cultural purposes. The bridge offers the potential for developing an all-season route from Aklavik to the Willow River Gravel Source, which would shorten the current 27-km ice/overland route to an overland-only route of 19.2 km. The bridge would also provide access to terrain for uses such as a proposed municipal solid waste facility, wastewater treatment facility, or both.