proHNS was awarded the Alaska Capital Engineers’ (ACE)—a division of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Juneau Chapter’s—2025 Project of the Year award for its work on the Haines Borough’s 2020 Flood Damage Repairs project. proHNS’s Principal Engineer Lucas Chambers, PE, accepted the award on behalf of the company, touting the achievements of the project’s engineering team, the collaboration with the Haines Borough, and contributions from its many outstanding project partners.
Project Background:
The Haines 2020 Flood Damage Repairs project includes 11 road repair projects resulting from a historic rain-on-snow event in December 2020 that caused record-breaking rainfall, extensive flooding, and dozens of landslides across the Haines Borough. Natural and man-made drainage systems were quickly overwhelmed, resulting in widespread road washouts, utility damage, and structural loss. The largest landslide, triggered by saturated slopes above Beach Road, destroyed private residences and killed two people, leaving a dramatic scar on the landscape and devastating the community.
The scale of destruction prompted a Presidential Major Disaster Declaration, unlocking FEMA Public Assistance funding for recovery. As a Haines-founded engineering firm, proHNS mobilized early to assist the Haines Borough with FEMA documentation and project support.
Over the following years, proHNS delivered comprehensive engineering services across 11 FEMA-funded projects totaling nearly $12 million in construction. Services included damage assessments, project scoping and surveying, hydrologic and hydraulic analyses, environmental permitting, development of bid-ready design packages, procurement support, construction administration, inspection services, and ongoing FEMA grant coordination through project closeout. The focus was not simply on restoring infrastructure, but on rebuilding stronger—equipping the Haines Borough with resilient infrastructure designed to withstand future climate-driven storm events.