It was a rock-em, sock-em two days for snow plow operators on Dec. 8-9 as Mn/DOT crews battled high winds, drifting snow, slick roads and bitter cold to clear state highways during the season’s first major storm.

“While blowing snow is problematic and could create visibility problems, Mn/DOT’s plow operators will adjust to the conditions,” said Steve Lund, state maintenance engineer, at a news conference Dec. 8. “Mn/DOT is in the business of keeping roads open.”

As of 3 p.m. Dec. 9, the National Weather Service was reporting snow totals ranging from 1.7 inches in St. Cloud to nine inches in Kiester and Owatonna. Twenty-six counties in Minnesota were issued blizzard warnings, and another 13 counties were under winter storm warnings, the NWS reported.
 
Mn/DOT was advising motorists to avoid traveling in southeastern Minnesota through midnight, Dec. 9, due to extremely poor driving conditions caused by heavy snowfall and reduced visibility. 

In District 6, all 102 snowplows were out in force. One snowplow tipped over on Hwy 60 near West Albany (between Zumbro Falls and Wabasha), according to Dave Redig, District 6 maintenance superintendent. Later, another truck, plowing Hwy 30, rolled when it hooked a hard drift and was sucked into the ditch. Neither plow driver was injured.

Wes Smith, Owatonna maintenance superintendent, said visibility was at zero to 300 feet in some spots. Greg Husmann, Dresbach sub-area supervisor, reported 16 inches of snow near the Wisconsin border with extremely low visibility.

In Mankato/District 7, Mn/DOT was advising no unnecessary travel as crews continued to combat drifting snow and poor visibility.

Statewide, Mn/DOT has 800 snowplows to cover 12,000 miles of state highways. There are 1,474 priority 1 snowplow drivers and 249 priority 2 (backup) drivers. All operators are required to have a valid Class B commercial driver’s license.  

If it becomes necessary to travel, motorists should follow safe winter driving practices, including:

• Using seat belts at all times
• Adjusting speed to road and weather conditions
• Avoiding use of cruise‑control
• Turning on headlights when it is sleeting or snowing  

For statewide travel information and road conditions, call 511 or log on to www.511mn.org.

Pushing a string of 12 barges containing corn and soybeans, the towboat M/V Coral Dawn left St. Paul on Dec. 2 and made its way down the Mississippi River, officially bringing an end to the 2009 towing season on the river.

The barges were filled with more than 600,000 bushels (18,600) tons of corn and soybeans, the equivalent of 744 semi-truck loads or roughly two 100-car train loads.

The 2009 towing season began March 23 and has run continuously for 254 days.

“The last season this long was 2004 and the last time the season ended this late was 1999,” said Dick Lambert, Ports and Waterways Section director. “Usually, the towing season ends around Thanksgiving so towboats avoid encountering ice build-up on the river.”

Lambert attributes the late ending this year to above normal temperatures and a late harvest due to wet weather.

Ronald Olson, Grand Rapids truck station, has been approved for the state vacation donation program, which allows employees to donate up to 12 hours of vacation per fiscal year for approved recipients who have exhausted their sick and vacation leave due to illness.

Olson has worked in highway maintenance for more than 20 years and is currently battling a life-threatening liver condition.

Farideh Amiri, Office of Maintenance, is also eligible for vacation donation. Amiri has needed to take time off to care for her son, who was diagnosed with life-threatening Myelodysplastic Syndrome in August.

To donate vacation hours, go to the Employee Self Service Web site and click “Other Payroll” and then “Leave Donations.” The site also allows employees to view a list of all state employees eligible for the program and enroll as a recipient.

Related information:

• Vacation donation: a worthy program for worthy people (Newsline, June 21, 2006)—Read a viewpoint from one Mn/DOT recipient.

The inter-agency effort to replace MAPS, the state’s aging accounting and procurement system, is progressing on schedule as teams from several state agencies, including Mn/DOT, are working to ensure that the replacement system is in place and functional by July 1, 2011.

In early October, the MAPS replacement project was renamed the Statewide Integrated Financial Tools project to best represent the scope, vision and purpose of the project. Work is currently in the planning phase, which is scheduled to run through early February. 

Although the SWIFT project officially began Sept. 2, Mn/DOT’s Office of Financial Management has been working with the state for several months shaping a new solution for Mn/DOT, which recently named its effort TranSWIFT.

“Our mission is to ensure that all financial activities in Mn/DOT are functional within SWIFT,” said Bill Roen, TranSWIFT project director. “The TranSWIFT project team is organizing business and finance experts from every district into work groups to help with the effort.”

Joy Penney, District 4 administrative manager, serves as the Administrative Managers’ Group representative to the Finance Professionals Group, which consists of finance professionals in offices and districts who are working in financial operations.

“TranSWIFT will handle the department’s major business processes—purchasing, receiving, inventorying, paying and reporting,” Penney said. “Beyond handling our business processes, SWIFT will be the system of financial record that other systems will be reconciled against.

“Many people are involved in this TranSWIFT effort and we are so pleased with the high level of participation of people who work with these business processes.”

SWIFT encompasses a number of mission-critical tools that are integrated into one system for all 130 state agencies. The current system MAPS processes 1.3 million payments and 300,000 purchase orders annually.

Purchasing and inventory are currently separate systems. The new system will streamline and eliminate dual entries.

“The current system we have is highly susceptible to breakdowns and is not meeting our department’s needs,” said Pam Tschida, Employee & Corporate Services Division director and TranSWIFT project champion. “Supporting the old system is getting too costly.”

MAPS was installed in 1995 and has grown increasingly incompatible with newer operating systems and technologies.  

Currently, Mn/DOT has several computer applications that hold financial data. The applications will be reviewed to determine whether their functionality will be replaced or modified by SWIFT.

“Our focus is on reengineering our business processes,” Tschida said. “We need to improve how we are currently doing things and make it more efficient. I’m hoping this system will eliminate the various stand-alone systems currently being used.”

The payroll application RCA may have to be rewritten to meet SWIFT requirements. System modification will likely not begin until mid-March 2010 after each system has been reviewed, analyzed and prioritized.

For more information about the SWIFT project including project status, schedule and updates, visit http://www.swift.state.mn.us/ or contact Bill Roen at 651-366-4076 Employees with questions about the project can contact: Swift.Project@state.mn.us.

Use of design-build on large, high-profile projects and the varying cost of road salt between districts are two of the most recent questions employees have asked Commissioner Tom Sorel about. See his response at http://ihub/buzz/index.html. Click on “Read comments and questions.” You may also use that link to submit a question of your own.

Since the E-Magination JAM ended in mid-September, the Office of Policy Analysis, Research & Innovation has evaluated all 527 submitted ideas and created seven major themes that cover most of the E-magination JAM ideas and discussions.

The findings were presented to the Mn/DOT Stewardship Council, a leadership team made up of division directors, for evaluation.

The seven theme areas are:

• Tech connections – improving transparency by reaching agency customers through computer-based, collaborative technologies, tools and strategies

• Sustainability – taking environmentally conscious action steps that Mn/DOT can take to enable better use of resources

• Workplace of choice – promoting employee well-being, development and success by listening to employees and taking action

• Targeted transparency – enhancing communications so external customers will better understand the complexities and nuances of transportation

• Operational innovations – delivering key ideas related to innovative intersections, work zones and operational efficiencies

• Scope incentive – delivering of incentives for designers for performance-based alternatives that save money using flexible designs 

• Public-private partnerships – supporting current innovative financing efforts that will help implement effective P3s at the local level  

Although the themes are in place and ready for further examination, no ideas have been selected for execution.

The Stewardship Council selected three of the seven themes that will be included as Mn/DOT flagship initiatives—Tech connections, Sustainability, and Workplace of choice. The Stewardship Council will track the progress of these three initiatives.

Mn/DOT has posted three project manager mobility positions to work on the initiatives. The closing date for applications is Dec. 14.

These project managers will work out of the PARI office and will develop implementation projects for the three E-magination JAM flagship initiatives. Their work will include project scope and schedules, cost analysis and risk assessment. The project managers will have to work across all Mn/DOT functions and will report their progress to the Stewardship Council each month.

The four E-magination JAM themes and ideas that are not part of the three flagship initiatives will be assigned to the appropriate Mn/DOT offices for further examination and possible implementation. The Stewardship Council will also monitor the work in this area.

For more information on the progress and status of ideas, visit the E-magination JAM Web site at http://ihub.dot.state.mn.us/emaginationjam/.

By Lisa Yang

The Hwy 10/Connect Detroit Lakes construction project received the first place Gold Award in the Urban Arterials and Collectors category from the American Concrete Paving Association on Dec. 4.

“Winning a national award is no small accomplishment,” said Lee Berget, District 4 engineer. “It takes teamwork, dedication and knowledge to achieve this type of result.”

The $45 million construction project was designed to balance mobility for through-traffic on Hwy 10 in Detroit Lakes and access for local traffic movements in harmony with the surrounding cultural and natural resources. The project began in April 2006 and was completed by fall 2008.

The project addressed safety, mobility and environmental concerns along the corridor by:

• Relocating 1.5 miles of Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad track, allowing Hwy 10 to be built in the old railroad alignment
• Focusing on safety improvements during construction and following construction
• Eliminating two at-grade railroad intersections by closing one and constructing an underpass for the other
• Constructing six storm water retention ponds and removing 50 percent of phosphorus and 90 percent of suspended solids in stormwater runoff throughout the area
• Restoring more than one-half mile of Big Detroit Lake shoreline by seeding more than 10,000 native plantings and reconstructing a scenic overlook.

Many residents, businesses, elected officials and regulatory agencies were engaged in the planning of the project.

Mn/DOT condensed the project time table from four years to three after listening to concerns from the public and businesses expressing urgency to shorten its duration.

Mn/DOT and contractor personnel kept the public and businesses informed through public meetings, news releases, construction brochures, radio updates, bi-monthly cable TV updates and continuous community coordination.

“Communication played a key role in why this project was a success,” said Shiloh Wahl, project engineer. “The most successful part about this project was that it was constructed and completed without any major accidents or construction delays.”