Trans Alaska Pipeline System, TAPS, workers nominated colleagues for outstanding work during 2020, and Alyeska executives came together to select Atigun Award recipients. The Atigun Awards honor employees, contractors and teams who truly go above their regular job duties. Atigun Awards recognize performance excellence by individuals and teams in the categories of Environment, Innovation, Health and Safety, Integrity, and Teamwork.

Ahtna Construction & Primary Products Company, LLC (AC&PPC) was awarded the Atigun Award for teamwork for their work on the Sag River structure improvements and repairs.

In 2019, the lower Sag River between PLMP 22 and 47 experienced multiple high-water events, resulting in significant damage. Emergency response efforts in 2019 restored protection for the mainline, but not to the level warranted for changing environmental conditions which now threaten unprotected areas of the pipeline in the river floodplain. An improvement to the original design basis was warranted to protect these vulnerable areas. A multi-faceted technical team of Alyeska engineers and top State of Alaska hydrologists designed structures to adequately protect the pipeline.

The 25-mile-long construction area, located in an environmentally sensitive river floodplain, required significant coordination to acquire and interpret the stipulations outlined in over 50 permits. Additional coordination between Alyeska, Ahtna Construction, Merrick and HCC employees made this improvement possible.