The last barge of the 2003 shipping season left St. Paul on Nov. 28, ending a below-average year for commodity shipments by river. Photo by Dick Lambert

The last shipment by barge for the 2003 navigation season on the Mississippi River left the Twin Cities Nov. 28, reports Dick Lambert, Ports and Waterways Section. The carriers usually try to leave around Thanksgiving to avoid ice buildup on the river.

"The tow operators were especially concerned this year because of the very low flow rate," Lambert said. "The river would have iced over very quickly if the temperature dropped below freezing."

The river’s flow was lower than normal due to scant mid- and late-summer rainfall.

The shipping season opened March 30 with the arrival of the towboat M/V Phyllis, owned by Alter Barge Line Inc. of Bettendorf, Iowa. This year’s 243-day season ended late Friday when the tow M/V Myra Eckstein took the last 11 barges south. This was about two weeks shorter than average. In addition, because of strong competition worldwide, river exports were down about two million tons or about 20 percent below average. Lambert said.

"Corn, our largest export commodity on the river, will be well off its normal tonnage this year," Lambert said. "We won’t know how much until sometime in December. Soybeans and wheat, which are also shipped on the river, are also well below last year’s tonnages."

Approximately 16 to 17 million tons of freight are shipped annually to and from Minnesota via the Mississippi River. Inbound products include aggregates (sand and gravel), fertilizers, salt, cement, coal and caustic soda. Minnesota’s main export shipped by river is grain. Grain shipments average about nine million tons per year, valued at $1.6 billion. Other products shipped from Minnesota on the river include potash, asphalt, scrap iron and petroleum.

By Donna Lindberg

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Regional leaders cut a ceremonial ribbon in Heron Lake to mark rebuilding Hwy 60 between Windom and Worthington. They included (from left) State Rep. Doug Magnus; Jim Swanson, Mankato district engineer; State Sen. Jim Vickerman; Steve Schneider, Nobles County engineer and action corporation president, and State Rep. Elaine Harder. Photo by Rebecca Arndt

A vision shared by backers of an improved Hwy 60 for decades turned into a welcome reality on Nov. 17 when a ribbon-cutting ceremony marked rebuilding the two-lane road between Windom and Worthington into a modern, four-lane highway.

The final 8.4-mile section of the route between Heron Lake and Wilder was opened to traffic in October. Total length of the Windom to Worthington project is 28 miles. Work on the $39 million project started in 1993.

The Southwestern Minnesota Highway 60 Action Corporation, a long-time backer of a four-lane Hwy 60 between Worthington and the Twin Cities metro area, hosted the event held in Heron Lake.

The citizen’s action group, known for its "Pray for Me; I Drive Highway 60" bumper stickers, celebrated the achievement as it called for widening the highway to four lanes between Windom and St. James and from Worthington to the Iowa border.

Mankato/District 7 Engineer Jim Swanson was among the dignitaries who spoke at the dedication ceremonies.

"First comes roadways, and then comes economic development," Swanson said. "It’s just like hundreds of years ago. Where rivers went, there was economic development. Then, where trains went, there was economic development. We are already seeing a similar pattern emerge with the improvements we’ve made to Hwy 60."

By Craig Wilkins

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Members of the Marshall County Sheriff's Posse search for possible clues related to the abduction of UND student Dru Sjodin. Photo by Roger Hille

Employees from the Bemidji District’s Crookston office are lending several hands in the search for Dru Sjodin, a student at the University of North Dakota who was abducted in Grand Forks Nov. 22 and remains missing.

Jim Curran, assistant district engineer for operations, said that maintenance crews, for example, have left highwayshoulders unplowed toavoid disturbing evidence possibly related to her abduction. He said maintenance staff worked with law enforcement agencies to set up road closures and arranged to use a rest area in the region as a staging area for search party operations.

Employees, he added, are also permitted to take time off to join the search effort.

Roger Hille, operations support engineer at Crookston, has joined the search several times as part of the Marshall County Sheriff’s Posse.

Hille, president of the posse, said he and other members have searched the area between Grand Forks and Crookston on horseback, on foot and by using all-terrain vehicles.

Curran said employees at Crookston will continue to support the search in any way they can.

"Our people are on the alert and available," he said.

By Craig Wilkins

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The 2003-2004 Minnesota State Highway Map is now available online in PDF format.

In addition to using the trusty, folded paper road map of Minnesota in their glove compartments, motorists now can access state highway information from their computers as well.

The Web version of the map contains the full state highway map, a detailed map of the Twin Cities metropolitan area and inset maps of Greater Minnesota cities having populations of 10,000 or more.

The site enables users who have 5.0 or later version of Adobe Acrobat or similar software to print sections of the map most suited for their needs. The map retains the legend, mileage table, state park locations and historic sites found on the printed version.

Web users can print regional sections of the state map and the individual city maps.

The Minnesota Departments of Transportation and Administration and the Office of Tourism publish the map every other year.

Printed versions of the map are available from travel information centers, Mn/DOT district offices and chambers of commerce throughout the state.

To access the Web version of the map, go to www.dot.state.mn.us and then click on the "Getting Around" button. The map link appears on the drop-down menu.

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Using a water-filled crash barrier to lessen the chance of injury to motorists and workers on its Hwy 23 project helped District 8 earn a Work Zone Safety Award.

Innovation and commitment to the safety of Mn/DOT and other highway workers earned Mn/DOT Work Zone Safety Awards for construction staff in the Metro, Bemidji, Brainerd and Willmar districts. The awards were presented Dec. 2 during the annual conference held Minnesota Association of Asphalt Paving Technologists.

This year's meeting was the 50th sponsored by the association.

The Metro District will receive another work zone safety honor this spring during the annual Concrete Paving Association's conference.

Innovations cited ranged from using water-filled crash cushions to improve motorists' visibility at intersections to creating detours that helped businesses while reducing traffic flow problems on the mainline construction area.

The Metro District received its award in the dynamic, high-volume traffic category for avoiding worker injuries and major crashes while doing extensive work on the Crosstown Highway (Hwy 62) between Hwy 100 and I-35W in Minneapolis. The project involved rebuilding the median, painting bridges and asphalt resurfacing.

Mark Panek served as resident engineer. Tom Villar was project supervisor; chief inspector was Jon Erickson.

District 2 staff earned honors the dynamic, low-volume category for their efforts during resurfacing Hwy 2 in Cass and Itasca counties. They were cited for using two pilot cars to manage traffic and excellent communications between construction staff and the contractor. The award notes the contractor initiated use of a changeable message sign at his own expense and held daily safety inspections.

Todd Vonasek served as project engineer; Jeff Long was the chief inspector.

Excellent communication by staff with businesses along Hwy 210 commercial strip in Baxter and Brainerd helped District 3 win honors in the static, high-volume category. District staff set up detours that provided access to local businesses and helped traffic movement on the mainline highway, effected quick solutions to problems that developed and maintained good coordination with local agencies on detours, signal activation and the use of haul roads.

Resident engineer is Kevin Kosobud. Jamie Hukreide served as project engineer while Joseph Cameron served as chief inspector. Dave Buss was the project's work zone safety coordinator.

The use of portable concrete barriers to protect workers and motorists and water-filled barrier ends that improved drivers' vision at intersections helped District 8 staff earn an award for the reconstruction of Hwy 23 between Willmar an Spicer in the static, low-volume category.

The award also cites good coordination with the State Patrol and other law enforcement officials and excellent communication with area businesses and government agencies.

Barry Anderson is the resident engineer. Paul Jurek served as project engineer and Jim Christensen served as project supervisor. Darrell Terlisner was the chief inspector.

The Metro District will receive an award in the static, high-volume category for its work on an I-94 bridge painting project in St. Paul. The award cites a traffic control plan that minimized delays on the busy freeway, round-the-clock worked to complete job as quickly as possible and effectively making changes in the field as problems arose.

Steve Kordosky was the resident engineer. Chris Beckwith served as project engineer; Mark Taylor and Jay Urban served as chief inspectors.

By Craig Wilkins

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Pete Luthens

Roland "Pete" Luthens died at a Minneapolis hospital Nov. 25 after collapsing at the Litchfield Truck Station on Nov. 22 where he worked as a transportation generalist. He was 52.

Luthens was at the shop after plowing snow and was preparing to meet Bruce Schlueter, his supervisor, to replace a damaged stop sign. Luthens called Schlueter who returned to the shop where he found Luthens.

Schlueter then called an ambulance that took him to a local hospital. Schlueter also summoned Mike Halterman, a former coworker who now works at the Meeker County Highway Department shop adjacent to the Mn/DOT station, to be with Luthens until the ambulance arrived. Later, Luthens was transferred to Abbott-Northwestern Hospital where he died.

Funeral services were held Nov. 29 in Litchfield.

Luthens began his Mn/DOT career in 1984 after working in the building and masonry fields. He was a U.S. Army veteran, serving two years during the Vietnam War era.

In a note to employees, Dave Trooien, District 8 engineer, said Luthens was a hard-working person whose sense of humor made him easy to work with.

Trooien added that Luthen’s death is especially hard for his coworkers in the district’s Hutchinson region and other employees because another worker at Litchfield, Dan "Shorty" Retzlaff, died last year.

District officials arranged meetings for employees with DeLorah Curry, Human Resources; Bob Wryk, Metro District, and Paul Schwab, Owatonna, from Mn/DOT’s Critical Incident Stress Debriefing Team to help them cope with the loss of their coworker and friend.

The loss was particularly difficult for Schlueter who grew up with Luthens on neighboring farms near Cedar Mills.

Schlueter said he was happy to connect with Luthens again in the workplace.

"We worked well together," he said. "He was an excellent worker and an excellent friend. You couldn’t find a better person."

Luthens’ spouse, Sue Luthens, three children, two grandchildren, four sisters and his parents survive him.

By Craig Wilkins

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Dennis Hulst

Funeral services for Dennis Hulst, transportation generalist in District 2/Crookston, were held Nov. 25 at the Bible Baptist Church in Crookston.

Hulst, who had just completed cancer treatments and was expected to be on the upswing, died Nov. 22 of a heart attack.

By Craig Wilkins

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