Some 180,000 comments, which overwhelmingly supported listing the belugas for protection under the federal Endangered Species Act, must be analyzed. URS Corp., a global engineering design firm headquartered in San Francisco, was charged under a contract with the National Marine Fisheries Service to catalog all comments. URS is part of one of two consortiums that have expressed strong interest in building the bridge.

Dale Paulson, Knik Arm Bridge and Toll Authority project manager for the National Environmental Policy Act document being developed by the authority, said that he doesn't see the belugas as being an issue, whether listed or not. Some 30 percent of the design work has been completed.

“We probably have as good a knowledge base about what is going on with the belugas as anyone,” he said Nov. 12. “As near as we can tell, (the bridge) won't affect the belugas at all, except during construction. During construction, those mitigation issues are already in the EIS (environmental impact statement) and described.”

The Federal Highway Administration, however, has yet to give its stamp of approval to a final EIS, a situation that doesn't sit well with authority chairman George Wuerch. Still, Wuerch said, “we know from the research already that there are times of the year when there are no whales present. If there are no whales present, will driving a pile impact whales who are not there?”

Wuerch said the question of impact on the belugas would ultimately be answered when the authority starts getting the permits for construction.

“The belugas are going to be a huge issue even if it is not listed (as endangered), because we want that population to recover, and we need to work around it,” he said.

Cook Inlet beluga whales are a genetically distinct and geographically isolated population whose numbers have plummeted by half over the past decade. The National Marine Fisheries Service recently proposed that they be listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. While the historical high was about 1,300 of these mammals, current surveys suggest there are only 250 to 350 belugas remaining in Cook Inlet.

The authority's request for proposals to build the bridge will invite two competing groups - which have already been selected - six months to respond. Each group is a mix of international and domestic firms. URS Corp. is one of five participants in the Knik Arm Crossing Consortium, led by an international French firm. Another six firms are involved in the Knik Arm Crossing Constructors, led by an Australian firm.

Kevin Hemenway, the authority's chief financial officer, said the plan is to select a single partner group to design, build, finance, operate and maintain the bridge for up to 55 years. Because such concession agreements are complex, it is typical in such public-private partnership procurements to short list prequalified teams, he said.

When the authority publicized its solicitation for such public-private partners earlier this year, only two competitors emerged. Knik Arm Constructors LLC is affiliated with the Australian financial firm Macquarie. Others in the group are Kiewit Pacific Co., Manson Construction Co., Parsons Transportation Group Inc., Golder Associates Inc. and VMS Inc.

The Knik Arm Consortium is backed by Bouygues Travaux Publics, a large international construction firm based in France. URS Corp., ARUP Engineering Services and USKH Inc. are also in the group.

Once they submit their proposals, there will be a selection based on the best value, Hemenway said. The authority's current timetable calls for construction to begin in 2009.

As the authority moves full speed ahead, having spent $35.6 million through June 30, there are a number of issues still unresolved, from how to route and manage increased traffic at both ends of the proposed bridge, to the toll structure for traversing the bridge itself.

According to Hemenway, the toll would range from $3 to $6 for each one-way trip across the bridge. Bridge officials also are awaiting the release of the final environmental impact statement on the project.