Nearly obscured by blowing snow, a plow from District 6 plows Hwy 14 between Rochester and Owatonna after the storm. Photo by David Gonzalez

Presenting what might be construed as nature's last attempt to balance the 2004-05 winter, a heavy snowstorm battered the southern one-third of the state on March 18, leaving central and northern Minnesota untouched.

The state’s southern tier got off relatively easily this winter compared with the cycles of bitter cold, freezing rain and snow that tested the state’s more northerly regions since November.

The March 18 storm even split north and south in the Twin Cities metropolitan area. The storm dropped several inches of snow in Minneapolis and St. Paul and their southern suburbs, but failed to reach the northern suburban ring.

The storm hit most severely in the area that parallels the Iowa border. High winds and about 20 inches of snow combined to force District 7 and District 6 to close Interstate 90 from the South Dakota border to Albert Lea from 3 p.m. on March 18 until 8 a.m. the following day.

George Welk, Windom Maintenance Area engineer, said the 160-mile section of I-90 was closed primarily because of poor visibility. Gates blocking access to the freeway and warning signs posted on I-35 in Minnesota and I-29 and I-90 in South Dakota kept motorists away, he said, allowing the district’s maintenance forces to clear the freeway without having to deal with traffic or stalled cars.

Snowplow crews worked until dark on Friday, then returned early on March 19 to finish clearing the freeway so it could be reopened.

District 7 officials also closed Hwy 60 from Madelia to Worthington from mid-afternoon on March 18 until 8 the following morning.

In spite of poor conditions on Hwy 60, Troy Fundahn and Mary Hanson from Windom escorted an ambulance from Mountain Lake to pick up a seriously ill person at Butterfield and transport him to the hospital in St. James.

Operating in tandem, Metro District plow drivers clear I-35E south of Hwy 110 in Mendota Heights. Photo by David Gonzalez

Kristine Hernandez, District 6 public affairs coordinator, said the State Patrol reported 199 crashes or cars leaving the roadway and 34 personal injuries statewide during the March 18 storm.      

Many of the mishaps occurred in the Rochester District, which received snow accumulations of 22 inches in many areas and as much as 31 inches in Preston and Lanesboro.

The district used three, 12-hour shifts to combat the storm and a fourth shift to clean up after the major snowfall ended.

One District 6 employee from the St. Charles truck station escaped injury when a semi-trailer truck sideswiped his snowplow on I-90 east of St. Charles. The truck driver failed to stop following the collision. The plow operator continued his route after determining the plow was undamaged, Hernandez said.

Dave Redig, maintenance superintendent at Rochester, said the snow was unusually heavy and slippery and, at times, fell at the rate of four inches an hour.

The heavy snow made tough going for plow drivers, he said, but a warm and sunny Saturday morning made the work much easier.

“The regular maintenance crews and the back-up drivers did a fantastic job,” Redig said. “They kept going around the clock; they never shut the trucks down. They changed shifts and drivers and kept right on going.”

By Craig Wilkins

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This map illustrates the sections of I-35W and Hwy 62 that will be involved in the reconstruction project.

Lt. Gov./Commissioner Carol Molnau recently accepted the recommendations of an appeal board reviewing the city of Minneapolis' denial of municipal consent for the proposed I-35W/Hwy 62 Crosstown reconstruction project.

Molnau’s action clears the way for the $240 million project to remain on schedule and begin construction in 2006.

"The municipal consent process, though at times difficult, has achieved benefits for the city, region and state,” Molnau said in a March 17 letter to Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak, Council President Paul Ostrow and City Council members.  

“The process has highlighted much of what Minneapolis, the metro region and the state share in vision for the future of the I-35W corridor and the region's transportation system."

The appeal board's recommendations include:

• Constructing a bus rapid transit station at 46th Street

• Coordinating environmental protection efforts to preserve the water quality of Minnehaha Creek and other nearby waterways

• Configuring bridges during the project to provide more space for bike and traffic lanes

• Constructing a new Minnehaha Creek bridge, consistent with the environmental and historical character of the area, instead of expanding the current bridge

None of the recommendations will increase the cost of the project, according to Mn/DOT staff.

For more information:

• Appeal board's "Findings and Recommendation's"

• Molnau’s March 17, 2005 letter

• Crosstown project Web site

• Mn/DOT Newsline (Sept. 8, 2004) article

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The towboat M/V Itasca chugs down the Mississippi River near downtown St. Paul on March 28, the day that the Twin Cities waterways opened for business. Photo by David Gonzalez

“Old Man River just keeps rolling along” may be true about the Mississippi River in Minnesota eight months out of the year.

Between mid-November and mid-March, however, you would have to put skis on a barge to move it from New Orleans to St. Paul. So it was with much fanfare that the Twin Cities waterways opened for business March 28.

Lt. Gov./Commissioner Carol Molnau joined St. Paul Mayor Randy Kelly, Assistant Agriculture Commissioner Perry Aasness and other dignitaries to sound the horn on the towboat M/V Itasca at Lambert’s Landing in St. Paul to officially welcome the first barge into the area from out of state.

Molnau pointed out during an interview with Channel 11 at the event that river transportation is safe, efficient and economical.

“We can move a ton of product on the river 514 miles on one gallon of fuel," she said.

National research has shown that one gallon of fuel will move the same amount of product 202 miles by rail and 59 miles by truck. Each river barge can carry 1,500 to 1,650 tons—enough to fill 15 rail cars or 60 trucks.

Lt. Gov./Commissioner Carol Molnau tells reporters, “River transportation helps make Minnesota what it is today—a great place to live, work and play.” Photo by David Gonzalez

“Moving products by water helps reduce traffic congestion,” Molnau added. “However, the shipping industry still depends on rail and truck transportation to get products to the river.”

During the 254-day 2004 season, Minnesota ’s river terminals handled 13 million tons of grain and commodities such as fertilizer, cement and scrap iron.

“Minnesota normally ships and receives between 16 and 17 million tons of freight annually,” said Dick Lambert, Ports and Waterways Unit. “More than 5.1 million tons of grain were exported on the river in 2004, which is below the normal nine-million-ton average.”                

"River transport is essential for our agricultural community," Aasness said. "Minnesota depends on grain exports, which account for 25 percent of Minnesota’s economy."                 

“River transportation helps make Minnesota what it is today—a great place to live, work and play,” said Molnau. For more information on waterway navigation, check out the Web site at: http://www.dot.state.mn.us/boat.html.

By Donna Lindberg

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Frank Pafko will take over as director of the Office of Environmental Services on April 6. He succeeds Dick Elasky who is retiring. Photo courtesy of Metro District

Frank Pafko, currently an area manager with the Metro District, was named director of the Office of Environmental Services. He succeeds Dick Elasky who is retiring. Pafko’s appointment begins April 6.

Pafko served in several positions with Environmental Services until 2001 when he accepted his current position. As an area manager, he manages program delivery activities in Anoka, Ramsey and northern Hennepin counties. He was the first non-engineer to hold a program delivery position with Mn/DOT.

Pafko started his Mn/DOT career in 1977 as an aquatic biologist.

His accomplishments in the environmental field include developing and implementing environmental policy, providing technical and regulatory expertise to Mn/DOT and other government agencies and building strong working relationships with environmental agencies and interest groups.

Pafko has made several presentations at national conferences on environmental issues. He has also represented Mn/DOT on the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials’ standing committee on the environment and on the Transportation Resource Board’s Environmental Analysis Committee.

A Minneapolis native, Pafko holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Minnesota.

He may be reached at 651/284-3751 and via GroupWise.

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Excellence in concrete paving design and construction earned nine paving awards for Mn/DOT from the Concrete Paving Association of Minnesota. The awards for 2004 were presented March 16 in Bloomington.

One paving project, a concrete overlay section of Hwy 10 in Todd County, also received national recognition from the American Concrete Pavement Association.

That project involved reconditioning Hwy 10 between Staples and Motley. The crew patched the existing concrete surface with a thin layer of bituminous, then added seven inches of concrete to the pavement surface.

The preservation work helps maintain the structural integrity of the roadway and extends the life of the pavement surface itself.

The CPA of Minnesota and Mn/DOT co-sponsored the award program. The judging panel included representatives from the CPA, Mn/DOT and McLeod County.

The award-winning projects, listed by district, include:

• District 1—Reconstruction of Hwy 53 (the Piedmont Avenue project) in Duluth

• District 2—Rebuilding Hwy 200 in Ada

• District 3—The Hwy 10 project between Staples and Motley and construction of a ramp, rest area and parking area on Hwy 10 near Sartell

• District 6—Reconstruction of Hwy 58 between Red Wing and Zumbrota; a concrete overlay on Interstate 35 near Northfield, and construction of the Hwy 63/Olmsted County Hwy 20 interchange in Rochester

• Metro District—Concrete pavement restoration on I-35W in Minneapolis and rebuilding I-94 from Hwy 169 to Zane Avenue

The association also presented awards to cities, counties and private contracting firms for their work.

By Craig Wilkins

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If it seems like you’re seeing more spam lately, it could be because the volume of unwanted e-mail sent to state employees has increased by 80 percent during the last year.

The good news: although some spam still leaks through, most of it is blocked, according to Department of Administration statistics.  

As of March 21, all Mn/DOT employees are now users of IronMail, the state’s anti-spam service managed by Administration’s InterTechnologies Group. Last year, Mn/DOT employees had the choice of whether or not to participate in the use of this service. However, in an effort to standardize anti-spam operations, the option for employees to not participate is no longer available.

IronMail filters incoming e-mail from the Internet, but not e-mail within Mn/DOT. It works with other information technology to filter spam before it enters the department’s e-mail system by identifying common characteristics of spam (such as certain e-mail addresses and sexually explicit content) and blocking these messages. Although some legitimate mail may get blocked or “quarantined” in the process, employees can review and release legitimate mail.  

During the last three months of 2004, the statewide system filtered almost 30 million messages through IronMail. Of these, 9.2 million messages (31 percent) were delivered, 1.4 million (5 percent) were intercepted because of viruses, and nearly 19 million (64 percent) were intercepted because of suspected spam.

Questions about IronMail can be sent to Desktop Support Services, which administers IronMail statewide for Mn/DOT employees. Send an e-mail to DSS CO Requests or call 651/297-8887 and select option 4. If you send an e-mail message to this account, include a description of the problem or request.  

For more information:

• March 17 e-mail to Mn/DOT employees

• Frequently Asked Questions about spam

• Mn/DOT’s anti-spam Web site

• Mn/DOT Newsline (April 14, 2004) article

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Dana Dittbenner

Dana Dittbenner, a senior transportation generalist at Marshall, died March 19 after a long bout with cancer. He was 57. Services were held March 23 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Lucan.  

Dittbenner started his Mn/DOT career at the Metro District in 1985, before transferring to Marshall where he became an integral part of the regional bridge maintenance crew.

Co-workers described him as a funny, hard-working, resourceful and multi-talented person who kept a positive attitude about life and work even after his initial cancer diagnosis in 1996.

“He was always upbeat, no matter what,” said Geri Vick, an engineering specialist in bridges and permits at Willmar. “He was very inventive, and when we needed something, he always came up with a solution that worked.

“He was very hard-working and fun to work with,” she said. “He was full of stories, poems and songs; we never knew what he might come up with. Just thinking of him and something funny he did makes me smile.”

Howard Strom, transportation specialist lead worker in Marshall Bridge, said Dittbenner was a talented carpenter, cement worker, welder and metalworker.

Strom said Dittbenner took summers off after his diagnosis so he could rest and keep working with the bridge crew during the remainder of the year.  

“Even after his diagnosis he always looked on the positive side and stayed in a good mood,” he said.

“I’ll miss his personality and his many talents,” Strom said. “He will be missed by everybody.”

Survivors include his spouse, Connie Dittbenner, four stepsons, two grandchildren, a sister and a brother.

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News articles related to transportation are available on iHUB.

Pavement conditions of Minnesota roads and the achievements of Mn/DOT’s MnROAD facility were the subjects of a March 28 Pioneer Press newspaper column called “Road Sage.”

The MnROAD facility on Interstate 94 near Monticello was built in 1994 to study the effects of traffic, climate and environmental factors on various types of pavement designs.  

“Designing pavements in Minnesota is a definite challenge,” said Ben Worel, MnROAD operations engineer. “Heavy trucks are one culprit and extreme weather is another.”

The pavement data gathered at MnROAD helps Mn/DOT improve current pavement design methods. Also, researchers worldwide use MnROAD data to develop updated pavement designs that can withstand their particular conditions.  

“We estimate that MnROAD's research has saved Mn/DOT $23 million annually on our state highways alone by updating methods for setting seasonal load limits and improving design methods for hot mix asphalt pavements,” Worel said.

Click here to read the full article in iHUB News Clippings. To read, or search for, other transportation news clips, go to iHUB and click on Daily News Clippings.

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From left, Larry Sodergren, Elliott Ruhland and Rick Morey, all from the Office of Land Management, were three of the presenters at this year’s Survey Technical Workshop. Photo by Cheryl Hunstock

The Office of Land Management sponsored the annual Survey Technical Workshop on March 16-17 at the Breezy Point Conference Center.

The workshop offers technical training to survey professionals from Mn/DOT, county and municipal governments, the private sector, as well as to students from Minnesota colleges.  

This year, 296 participants attended the workshop, which provides a setting in which they can view current practices, examine prospective trends, consider technical applications and improvements, and build relationships within the surveying community.

By Cheryl Hunstock

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