Whiting-Turner wins $137M Coast Guard Seattle base work

The U.S. Coast Guard has tapped Whiting-Turner for the first phase of a contract to modernize the branch’s Base Seattle, a key launching off point for Arctic and Antarctic expeditions, according to a Sept. 2 news release. The potential amount is $137 million.

In the scope of the phase 1A contract, Baltimore-based Whiting-Turner will widen the slip between berths 36B and 37B, upgrade berths 37A and 37B with modernized utilities capable of hosting two new polar security cutters, demolish an existing building and stabilize the waterfront at Berth 36B, according to the news release. The firm will also recapitalize Station Seattle’s small boat docks and boathouse.

The goal of the work, according to the Coast Guard, is to homeport future polar security cutters at the base. Base Seattle is critical to future operations that the branch will conduct in the high latitudes, such as the Arctic and Antarctic region. To that end, the recently enacted One Big Beautiful Bill Act provides $4.3 billion to continue construction of the PSC fleet.

In order to accommodate future PSC berthing and operations, the Coast Guard will dredge the area to remove and dispose of contaminated sediment under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, alongside an Environmental Protection Agency order. This job is the largest CERCLA action and removal of hazardous substances in the Coast Guard’s history, according to the release.

The Coast Guard eventually plans to award future contracts for phases 1B and 1C, which will see builders modernize facilities and deliver four major cutter berths, per the release.

Another branch of the military, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, has also been busy — the branch’s Alaska district awarded the first phase of the Port of Nome modification project in Nome, Alaska, to Kiewit in August. Additionally, the Hawaii district awarded AECOM a package of architect-engineer indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contracts worth more than $400 million.