Building a New Bridge Among Thousands of Bears in Katmai National Park & Preserve

KATMAI NATIONAL PARK—STG Incorporated recently completed the construction of a new bridge and walkway over the Brooks River in Katmai National Park and Preserve for the National Park Service (NPS). The project was commissioned to replace a floating bridge across the Brooks River, a centerpiece feature of the park, where the spawning Bristol Bay Sockeye Salmon make their way back up to the headwaters as the bears congregate in high concentrations to fish and feast before the long winter. Due to the high concentration of bears in this area, visitors and Park employees would frequently experience long delays on the floating bridge due to ‘Bear Jams’ when bears would be near or on the bridge preventing anyone from crossing until the bears moved. The new elevated bridge and walkway would alleviate this congestion, allow wildlife to move freely down the river and under the new bridge while giving visitors an improved vantagepoint from above, lessen delays, and improve safety for both visitors and wildlife.

Building a bridge in this isolated location with immense environmental and wildlife complexities to plan around was successfully completed by STG, Incorporated. STG has a successful track record with “leave-no-trace” construction methods on projects and the work in Katmai required a heightened commitment to this initiative. The Katmai National Park and Preserve, located in an extremely remote area of southwest Alaska, is only accessible by floatplane or boat, making construction a particularly complex challenge. In addition, protecting the natural ecosystem is paramount within the park and extensive measures are taken to keep the renowned bears from associating humans with food, or as a threat to their cubs. These efforts were at the forefront of STG’s approach from the beginning of the project, in addition to many other sensitive environmental factors while holding the highest standards for the quality of the bridge.