Nome Port Gets $399 Million Federal Contract to Build Deep-Water Dock

Nome is getting the port it has sought for two decades, backed by a $399.4 million federal construction contract that could lower the cost of fuel and goods in one of Alaska's most isolated regions.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Alaska District awarded the contract to Kiewit Infrastructure West Co. of Vancouver, Washington, on Aug. 15, 2025, to build Phase 1A of the Port of Nome Modification Project, according to the Corps' own news release and a federal spending record on USAspending.gov. The work is funded through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the 2021 federal infrastructure law.

For Nome's roughly 3,400 residents, whose median household income is $113,646, according to the State of Alaska's DCRA Community Database Online, the port expansion is aimed squarely at freight and fuel costs. Nome has no road connection to the state's highway system, so nearly everything that isn't flown in arrives by barge. The existing outer harbor basin is only 22 feet deep, too shallow for many of the larger vessels that would otherwise bring goods and fuel more cheaply. Phase 1A will extend the existing causeway by 1,200 feet and add about 600 feet of new dock face, laying groundwork for a planned deep-water basin dredged to 40 feet in a later phase.

City officials and the Corps have said a deep-water port would let large vessels dock directly in Nome rather than "lightering" cargo offshore onto smaller boats, a process that adds cost and time to every shipment of fuel, groceries and building materials headed to Nome and surrounding western Alaska villages.

"A robust and efficient transportation hub at Nome is foundational to the long-term viability of surrounding communities in the region," said Col. Jeffrey Palazzini, commander of the Corps' Alaska District, in the agency's Aug. 15 announcement.

The City of Nome is the project's non-federal sponsor and is covering 10% of the cost. The Alaska Legislature allocated $175 million in 2022 toward the city's share of the broader port expansion, according to a report from DredgeWire that cited the Corps' release; Congress separately put $250 million toward the project through the federal infrastructure law.

The contract is the second attempt to get Phase 1 built. The Corps canceled an earlier solicitation after bids came in above the statutory funding limit, then split Phase 1 into two smaller pieces, 1A and 1B, and rebid the smaller scope this year. Phase 1A has an estimated completion date of Sept. 5, 2029, though actual construction likely won't start until summer 2026 because of sea ice and the scale of the work.

The full four-phase buildout, including the later dredging phase and reconstruction of the port's east causeway, was estimated at roughly $662 million when the Corps and the city signed a partnership agreement for the project in January 2024.

Beyond shipping costs, the project is also framed by federal officials as a foothold for expanded Coast Guard and military operations in the Arctic. Once complete, the Corps has said the port will serve as a hub point for U.S. activity north of the Bering Strait, a secondary benefit for Nome residents in the form of potential federal jobs and services tied to year-round Arctic operations, though no specific jobs figures tied to that activity have been released.

What it means for Nome households right now is less certain than the eventual freight savings: the Corps has not published a jobs estimate for construction of Phase 1A itself, and the city has not released details on how the project might affect local sales or property tax rates, currently 5% and 11.49 mills, respectively, per the state's community database. Those numbers are worth watching as a nearly $400 million construction project moves into a town of 3,401 people over the next several years.

For now, the milestone is the money moving. After a failed 2024 bid round and years of planning stretching back to at least 2008, Nome has a signed contract, a named contractor and a construction clock that starts ticking toward 2029.