🇺🇸 One of the most remote infrastructure projects in the US takes shape in Alaska

October 1, 2026

GHD, a global professional services company, is the prime designer of record on a $470 million design-build modernisation of the Alcan Land Port of Entry (LPOE) in Alaska, delivering modern federal infrastructure in one of the most remote and challenging environments in the US.

Strategic location and operational importance

The Alcan LPOE is located at Milepost 1221.8 on the Alaska Highway, serving as the primary year-round, 24-hour land crossing between Alaska and Canada. It is the only full-service, round-the-clock road gateway providing essential access between the Yukon Territory and major Alaskan hubs like Fairbanks and Anchorage. The existing facility, located more than 400 miles east of Anchorage, was constructed in the early 1970s and no longer meets the operational needs of US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the US General Services Administration (GSA).

Project scope and design approach

This GSA Design Excellence project will replace the existing LPOE with a resilient, high-performance facility tailored to the unique demands of one of North America’s most remote operating environments, balancing federal security requirements, operational efficiency, sustainability and long-term durability while responding to the challenges of Alaska’s northern climate.

As part of a joint venture with RESPEC Company, LLC, GHD serves as prime designer of record supporting Davis Constructors & Engineers, Inc. as the design-build contractor. GHD’s scope includes project management, architecture, landscape architecture, environmental services and acoustical design, with Snow Kreilich Architects serving as co-architect and Atelier Ten providing PHIUS modeling and consulting as a subconsultant to RESPEC.

The project includes a new LPOE main port building, commercial and non-commercial inspection buildings, a firearms range, a community health and fitness building, a utility building with an interconnected utility corridor system and 20 housing units for CBP personnel, their dependents and GSA operations and maintenance staff.

Resilience and energy performance

The project’s remote location makes resilience and energy performance particularly important. The modernised facility is targeting PHIUS CORE Passive Building Certification and is being designed to support a path toward net-zero readiness through reduced energy demand, renewable energy strategies and high-performance building systems. A solar power system comprising building- and pole-mounted photovoltaic panel arrays, battery storage and microgrid controls will support on-site energy generation to help strengthen the facility’s energy resilience.

The design also incorporates climate adaptation measures to address changing environmental conditions in interior Alaska, including increasing wildfire risk, extreme cold, heavy snow and freeze-thaw cycles. These considerations are being integrated into the project with the goal of supporting long-term durability and reliable operations throughout the facility’s planned 50-plus-year service life, in alignment with federal sustainability and resilience goals.

“Projects like Alcan require us to think differently about how infrastructure is planned and delivered,” said David McVeigh, AIA, NCARB, Regional Market Leader, US West Property & Buildings, GHD. “The remoteness of the site and the environment it operates in influence every aspect of the project, from how buildings are designed and serviced to how they will perform over decades.”

Contact

Alex Mangiola
Pilot PMR
+1-416-460-3575
[email protected]

Melissa Sullivan
GHD
+1-281-657-0818
[email protected]

For more information, visit GHD.

Originally published on October 1, 2026 by GHD.