By Craig Wilkins

Citing rusted and corroded gusset plates at several locations, Mn/DOT officials on June 3 closed the bridge in Winona that carries Hwy 43 over the Mississippi River into Wisconsin.

Commissioner Tom Sorel said the closing is a precautionary measure to ensure safety.

“Inspectors found gusset plate corrosion, requiring us to close the bridge,” Sorel said. “We regret the inconvenience to motorists and appreciate everyone’s patience.”

Inspectors also found a slight distortion at one location on the deck truss section of the bridge.

Inspections have not yet been completed on the main span. Gusset plate inspection of the fracture-critical bridge will continue through June 6.

Sorel said analysis of the findings will take several weeks; the closure will remain in effect during that time.

That analysis will also help determine how much weight on the bridge may be allowed in the future.

In the meantime, Mn/DOT and local officials are discussing transit options for motorists who use the bridge. Options being considered include setting up park-and-ride locations in Minnesota and Wisconsin, as well as ferrying people across the Mississippi River near Winona. Plans are expected to be in place by Monday, June 9.

The Hwy 43 structure is a high-truss bridge that is 2,289 feet long. It has two traffic lanes that carry an average of 11,600 vehicles per day.

The bridge was built in 1941 and rehabilitated in 1985. It was last inspected in August 2007. That inspection gave the bridge a 49.8 sufficiency rating and deemed it safe for operation.

The current inspection results from an alert issued by the National Transportation Safety Board in January concerning gusset plates on bridge designs similar to the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis, which collapsed on Aug. 1, 2007.

Gov. Tim Pawlenty ordered that 25 steel truss bridges in Minnesota be re-inspected and that each bridge’s original engineering calculations be reviewed whether or not improvements were planned.

That round of inspections was in addition to a statewide inspection of all highway bridges (about 4,000) that was completed in December 2007.

The Winona bridge was closed the same day that Mn/DOT officials and consultants met in St. Cloud to review process improvements for the inspection program.

Since the inspection program began in January, Mn/DOT has closed the Hwy 23 DeSoto Bridge in St. Cloud and restricted traffic to one lane in each direction on the John Blatnik Bridge that carries Hwy 53 and Interstate 535 between Duluth and Superior, Wis.

Work to strengthen Duluth bridge begins June 9

Duluth/District 1 officials expect repairs to gusset plates on the John Blatnik Bridge will begin the week of June 9.

In May inspectors found that several gusset plates did not meet the bridge’s load requirement.

Pat Huston, district bridge engineer, said a contractor will strengthen gusset plates in 12 primary locations and several secondary locations as well.

The repair work will require closing the Blatnik Bridge for about one month. Traffic will be detoured onto Hwy 2 via the Richard Ira Bong Memorial Bridge, I-35 and city streets.

Hwy 23 bridge replacement begins this summer in St. Cloud

Construction of a replacement for the Hwy 23 bridge in St. Cloud will begin during August when crews disassemble the old bridge. Foundation work for new piers and abutments will begin in September and continue through the winter.

District 3 officials expect the new $35.3 million bridge to be completed in November 2009.

By Craig Wilkins

Less than an hour after a tornado devastated Hugo, a Twin Cities suburb, crews from the Metro District were on scene to support the first stage of the recovery effort.

The F3-rated twister left hundreds of broken and battered homes and other structures in its wake May 25.

Maintenance crews from the North Branch, Forest Lake and Taylors Falls truck stations pitched in to keep traffic off Hwy 61, clear debris and remove trees and branches that littered the region’s roads.

Bill Olson, sub-area supervisor at North Branch, said his crews also unplugged sewer drains that were overcome by the sudden rush of water and debris caused by the storm.  

Olson said Mn/DOT workers took over the control of the highway after it was closed by the State Patrol at about 5 p.m.

“We kept Hwy 61 closed for more than 24 hours to keep the gawkers out and to keep the road open for emergency response teams and other rescuers,” Olson said

The crews also set up changeable message signs that were first used to keep motorists out of the area in the immediate aftermath of the tornado.

The same signs were later used to guide hundreds of volunteers to a staging area at the Washington County government center on Hwy 61 near Forest Lake.  

Disaster recovery officials said Mn/DOT’s efforts helped response crews and contributed to what some said was one of the most successful volunteer recovery actions they had experienced.

“Disaster officials call on us because they know we have the people, the equipment and other resources that are ready to go when needed,” said Jim Michael, northeast area maintenance superintendent with the Metro District.

“Our response was typical, although the situation we faced was anything but that,” he said.

Steven Juusola, a transportation generalist at District 1’s Floodwood truck station, died May 16. He was 41.

Funeral services were held May 20 in Floodwood at Hope Lutheran Church.

Juusola began employment with Mn/DOT in 2005 when he joined the district’s bridge crew at Carlton. He transferred to Floodwood later that year.

Survivors include his wife, Jamie Juusola, children Andrew and A’Livia, his mother and three sisters.

Jeff Perkins, resident engineer with District 4 at Detroit Lakes, succeeds Jerry Miller as assistant district engineer for operations.

Perkins will work with Miller until his retirement later this year. Miller will retire with 39 years of service with Mn/DOT.

Before accepting his new position, Perkins served in several roles since joining Mn/DOT in 1991 with District 2.

His experience with District 4 includes service in maintenance operations, design, construction and program delivery.

Perkins also served as area technology engineer which combined all facets of field operations into one area from 1997 until 1999.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of North Dakota.

Perkins is a native of East Grand Forks, Minn., and lives in the Detroit Lakes area.

He may be reached at 218/846-3628.

Tom Jaso, a transportation generalist at the Mendota Heights truck station, is an eligible recipient under the state’s vacation donation program.

Jaso, who has been diagnosed with end-stage kidney failure, has used all of his vacation and sick leave.

State employees may donate a total of 12 hours of vacation per fiscal year to the program to benefit one or more people so that they may remain on the payroll and maintain insurance coverage.

Use the Employee Self Service Web site to donate vacation hours, enroll as a recipient or view a list of all state employees eligible for the program. Click “Other Payroll” and then “Leave Donations.”

By Nick Carpenter

More than 400 employees gathered in the Central Office cafeteria on May 22 to meet new Commissioner Tom Sorel and Deputy Commissioner Khani Sahebjam.

Both men provided personal background, answered questions from the audience and shared their collective vision for the department.

Sorel said he envisions an office atmosphere that is not only productive, but good-humored.

“We are all professionals and Mn/DOT employees do their jobs well, but we can still have fun,” Sorel said. “It’s important to enjoy coming to work each day.”

Sorel and Sahebjam plan to hold similar interactive meetings in the future, which include visits to all eight districts this summer.