2026 North Rainbird Trail Improvements

The Ketchikan Gateway Borough is seeking the services of a qualified company or individual to construct a trail stairway on the north entrance of Rainbird Trail at UAS Ketchikan Campus, per engineered drawings from R&M. The Stair Construction will include some trail maintenance leading up to and exiting the new stair to create a defined path through the area.

This improvement would involve:

• Clearing debris at the sites,
• Transporting materials to the site.
• Construction of the stair and rail.
• Adding D-1 to level landing and reroute the trail at a price value per lineal footage to be achieved before and after the stair to eliminate existing inadequate trail conditions.
• Restrain the compact gravel with log edging installed on one or both sides of the trail with reinforcement steel lagged into the ground.
• Assume log edging may be sourced on land immediately adjacent to the trail, either through salvaging already fallen timber, or with the assent of relevant property owner.

Work will be conducted in the City of Ketchikan on a public access trail. Site security and public safety are of the utmost importance. It is the responsibility of the contractor to secure all tools and materials to minimize tampering by the public. Ketchikan Gateway Borough bares no responsibility for the loss of tools or materials, and any such loss of Borough-supplied materials will be the responsibility of the Contractor to replace at their own expense. It is the responsibility of the contractor to prevent public access to the work area during any period in which the job site is rendered inaccessible due to the work.

The Cost Proposal will include price of new stair construction, complete and in place, tree and rock removal/cutting (clearing location), fill compacted, in place, and transportation of materials.

This project may afford an opportunity to engage community volunteers to expedite completion of the project, but this has not been organized by the Borough as of this date. Respondents bearing existing volunteer organizations to assist with construction will be reflected in the scoring

Proposals shall identify and provide credits for variance to any terms set forth above that will provide for a greater quantity of work to be performed.

The Rainbird Trail offers a convenient and immersive rainforest experience within a 20-minute walk from the city center and cruise ship docks. This trail is moderately difficult and traverses some 1.25 - miles of steep terrain above the UAS Ketchikan Campus, the Jefferson Reservoir, and Third Ave. bypass. The terrain is a mixture of site-sourced rock and gravel walking surfaces, log tread stairs, bridges and cut rock walkways.

A couple years ago the area incurred a landslide mid trail. This created an unsafe and unclear transition from start to finish on this trail. It hasn't been maintained and is overgrown since the slide. As the area has become stable and safe, we are taking steps to regenerate activity by improving each side of the slide. Our plan is to eventually restore the hike to its full length.

This improvement will help define the north route back through the forest trail and increase the usability throughout the year.