More than 130 people participated Sept. 22 in the groundbreaking ceremony marking the start of construction of the new Hwy 61 bridge over the Mississippi River in Hastings.

The $120 million project is expected to be completed in spring 2013. The new bridge, based on a free-standing arch main span, will carry four lanes of traffic (two lanes in each direction) and be equipped with an anti-icing system similar to that on the Interstate 35W bridge in Minneapolis.

In addition, a new North Loop will contribute to safety by eliminating an at-grade, high-speed median crossover from northbound Hwy 61 into local businesses. It also will allow southbound pedestrians safe access to the local trail system. A 12-foot-wide common use pedestrian/bike path will run beneath the bridge.

The groundbreaking was held at Levee Park near the bridge site. Hastings Mayor Paul Hicks was master of ceremonies. Mn/DOT speakers included Commissioner Tom Sorel, Metro District Engineer Scott McBride and Project Manager Steve Kordosky. They were joined by a number of state, local and federal officials, as well as representatives from the contractor, Lunda/Ames.

Following the ceremony, the public was invited to an open house at the Hastings City Hall.  

Beth Borowska, Oakdale Truck Station, passed away unexpectedly Sunday, Sept. 5. She was 39 years old.

Borowska worked for Mn/DOT more than two years as a maintenance worker.

“Beth had a rare enthusiasm for our work and really seemed to love the variety and the challenges we face in maintenance,” said Beryl Board, Borowska’s supervisor. “She was committed to helping diversify our workforce, and to that end, participated in many recruitment and educational efforts as an ambassador for our business.”

A celebration of Borowska’s life was held Sept. 14 at St. Stanislaus Catholic Church in St. Paul. Several of her co-workers from the Oakdale Truck Station attended the event, shared stories with her family and friends, and even brought along her snowplow.

“We all very much appreciated seeing the truck—it was thoughtful of her co-workers to bring it out,” said Dennis Feit, Borowska’s father, who works at Mn/DOT's Central Office in the Office of Financial Management.

The body of Al Kachelmyer, Office of Audit, was discovered Sept. 11 near Lake Superior’s Apostle Islands. Kachelmyer disappeared Sept. 10 while kayaking—high winds and rough waters are believed to be the cause of his disappearance.

Kachelmyer, 46, worked for Mn/DOT nearly 10 years, all of which were spent in the Office of Audit.

“Al was just a wonderful, open-hearted guy who was willing to help anyone in the office,” said Dan Kahnke, Office of Audit director. “He treated everyone with respect, no matter who they were.”

Kachelmyer worked on the 7th floor of the Central Office Building in St. Paul where his primary objective was to audit consultant engineering contracts.

When he wasn’t working, Kachelmyer loved spending time outdoors and in the kitchen, where he excelled as a gourmet chef, according to Greg Hlivka, Kachelmyer’s supervisor.

"I remember Al preparing a turducken for one of our office parties at a co-worker’s home. A turducken is a dish consisting of a de-boned chicken stuffed into a de-boned duck, which itself is stuffed into a de-boned turkey,” said Hlivka. “He took two days of vacation to prepare it at his home and drove it to the co-worker’s house the night before the party since it had to be baked in the oven for more than 13 hours."

More than 100 snowplow operators are currently participating in an intensive training program to prepare them for the worst road conditions a typical Minnesota winter has to offer.

The snowplow operator training program, known as SPOT, is a two-week session that highlights a variety of safety measures, plowing techniques and best practices. The session provides trainees with updates on new equipment, policies and procedures related to winter highway maintenance operations.

“The public has told us that snow and ice removal is very important,” said Transportation Commissioner Tom Sorel. “We have more than 1,500 snowplow operators clearing 30,000 lane miles of state highway each winter to ensure that motorists can get to where they want to go. Safe arrival at their destination is our priority.”

As part of SPOT program, Mn/DOT maintenance supervisors and other staff provide hands-on training and share their experience and insights with the trainees.

In addition to new Mn/DOT employees, Mn/DOT veterans who want to improve their skills and snowplow operators from township, city, county and tribal governments also participate.

“SPOT offers an effective way to meet our winter training needs that will lead to season-long improvements,” said Steve Lund, Mn/DOT's state maintenance engineer. “It is important that we take the necessary amount of time to educate snow fighters so we can provide the best possible service to motorists.”

By Beth Petrowske

The new District 7 headquarters facility in Mankato is now finished and employees are busy moving into their new offices.

The 163,000-square-foot building is almost twice as big as District 7/Mankato’s original building and has many energy efficient features, such as geothermal heating and cooling, natural lighting and automated mechanical systems.

Talks of remodeling the old headquarters started about 25 years ago. After it was determined that cost estimates for remodeling the existing facility exceeded the price of building something new, plans shifted to constructing a new facility.

Many years spent lobbying for funding and building partnerships finally paid off when the 2008 Legislature allocated $24 million in Minnesota Chapter 152 funds for a new building.

Common sense planning

Mn/DOT District 7 will share the facility with the Department of Public Safety's Driver and Vehicle Services Division and State Patrol—eliminating the additional cost of constructing three separate buildings. The shared facility also provides one-stop convenience for customers.

“Horse trading” benefits Mn/DOT, city of Mankato

After months of negotiations, the original District 7 headquarters building was “traded” to the city of Mankato in exchange for utilities, street improvements and other development details for the new building site at no cost to Mn/DOT. The cost to the city for these improvements was $836,479. The city of Mankato will use the old building as their main public works facility.

“The one consistent theme we hear from District 7 employees is that they are glad the existing building will be put to good use by the city,” said Mike Kelly, Mankato physical plant supervisor and Mn/DOT’s overseer of construction on the new facility.

No money? Think creatively

Money for trees and plants was not included in the $24 million set aside for the new facility, forcing the department to come up with an alternative approach to landscaping around the building.

Fortunately for the department, District 7 maintenance crews had planted many small trees—mostly blue spruces—in a lot near the new building. The trees had originally been planted for use on other state projects.

Dan Gullickson, Mn/DOT’s forestry natural resource program coordinator, has been working with District 7 on transplanting these trees—now 12-feet tall —and other hardy plants to landscape areas around the facility. Vera Westrum, landscape architect, is designing a landscape plan using the trees. In addition, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employee Council 6 union is considering making a contribution to create a Workers Memorial Park in a vacant area in front of the building.

A public open house at the new District 7 headquarters facility is planned for Nov. 9. The building is located at 2151 Bassett Drive, east of Hwy 22 in Mankato.

By Lucy Kender, Office of Human Resources

Learning the ins and outs of retirement benefits can sometimes be a daunting task. The Office of Human Resources is trying to make that task a bit easier—especially for those interested in the Early Retirement Incentive—with its new Early Retirement Incentive DVD education program.

“The education program provides an overview by key experts of several topics close to the hearts of potential retirees,” said Eric Davis, Human Resources director. “I highly encourage employees contemplating whether or not to apply for the ERI to learn about their benefits either by viewing the DVD or seeking other information or advice before making their decision.”

The education program highlights:

• Deferred compensation
• Insurance continuation
• Short- and long-term disability
• Accidental death and dismemberment
• Life insurance
• Social security
• Minnesota state retirement benefits
• Health care savings plan

The program is available in the following ways:

• Pick up a copy of the DVD from your district Human Resources office or Central Office Human Resources.
• Contact Meg Tilley in the Office of Human Resources at 651-366-3391.
• View a series of webcasts at your desktop computer the week of Oct. 11. (See schedule below)

The webcast begins with an introduction to the Early Retirement Incentive followed by the topic of the day. Each day will feature a different topic, which will be shown twice daily. Each topic will be repeated once during the webcast, which will be available at http://oitw2ksvideo1.ad.dot.state.mn.us/dot3.asx.

PowerPoint presentations used by the speakers in the program are included on the DVD and are posted on the Early Retirement Incentive website at http://ihub.dot.state.mn.us/hr/earlyretirement/.

By Lydia Bergen, Office of Human Resources

Sixty-three employees participated in the eWorkPlace telework pilot program, which began in April 2010, and concluded in August 2010, resulting in a savings of about $4,200, 875 gallons of gas and more than 20,000 miles traveled, according to the eWorkPlace Post Pilot Report.

Of the 35 employers who participated in the pilot, Mn/DOT had the largest number of participants. Ninety-two percent of the 63 employees who participated found teleworking successful and plan to continue on with the program.

“This pilot was a renewed initiative to continue creating awareness and support for teleworking at Mn/DOT,” said Eric Davis, Office of Human Resources director. “With the pilot now over, we encourage those who participated, as well as those who did not, to consider teleworking regularly.”

Employees interested in teleworking will need to complete both the new telework application and telework agreement—that includes current teleworkers who have been working under an outdated telework agreement. Employees who participated in the pilot will not need to complete another application, but will need to renew the agreement. Application and agreement forms should be submitted to the Office of Human Resources at Mail Stop 200.

“One of our goals is to completely abolish Mn/DOT’s teleworking policy and adopt the state of Minnesota’s teleworking policy, which is currently being revised,” said Karin van Dyck, Human Resources labor relations manager. “Until the State policy is complete, we will adopt the same guidelines used during the eWorkPlace pilot.”

The opportunity to establish a telework arrangement will be an ongoing benefit to Mn/DOT employees, according to Davis.

“Teleworking is encouraged statewide for employees whose jobs are conducive to working remotely,” Davis said. “We look forward to seeing many more employees take advantage of this benefit, in hopes of creating a flexible workplace of choice.”

For more information on the teleworking program, visit http://ihub.dot.state.mn.us/hr/ework/index.html. Employees with questions or comments about teleworking can contact Lydia Bergen at 651-366-3373, Karin van Dyck at 651-366-3385, or Eric Davis at 651-366-3402.

Employees interested in attending the latest Commissioner’s Reading Corner discussion can sign up at ihub/readingcorner/index.html. Bernie Arseneau, Policy, Safety & Strategic Initiatives Division director, will lead a discussion of “Nuts! Southwest Airlines' Crazy Recipe for Business and Personal Success,” by Kevin and Jackie Freiberg.

The discussion will take place Wednesday, Oct. 6, at 1:30 p.m., in Central Office Conference Room 461. Employees can also participate virtually via Adobe Connect and should log in as a guest no earlier than 1:15 p.m. All employees are encouraged to attend, even if they have not yet read the book, according to Qin Tang, Mn/DOT librarian.

Employees can also prepare for future book discussions by checking out other titles on the reading corner book list, which includes “How Successful People Think: Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life,” by John C. Maxwell. Tom Halverson, chief financial officer, will lead a discussion of that book Nov. 3.

Other upcoming discussions will include these titles, which are available in at the Mn/DOT Library:

• A New Breed of Leader: 8 Leadership Qualities that Matter Most in the Real World: What Works, What Doesn't, and Why
• The Trusted Leader: Building the Relationships that Make Government Work
• The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You
• Collaborative Leadership: How Citizens and Civic Leaders Can Make a Difference
• Jeffrey Gitomer's Little Teal Book of Trust: How to Earn It, Grow It, and Keep It to Become a Trusted Advisor in Sales, Business & Life

By Qin Tang

The August 2010 edition of New Library Materials is now available at http://www.dot.state.mn.us/library/newlibmat.html.

Check it out to learn more about the redesigned library website and let us know what you think by completing a short survey.

New Library Materials is a compilation of new titles and other resources added to the library collection during the previous month. If you would like to be added to the distribution list, contact Pam Gonzalez at 651-366-3749.  

For other information requests, contact the library at 651-366-3791 or e-mail library.dot@state.mn.us. Employees can also send requests via the “Ask a Librarian” Web page at http://ihub.library/asklibrarian.html or http://www.dot.state.mn.us/library/asklibrarian.html.

By Beth Petrowske

Moving 100 employees and everything they need to do their jobs to a new location is a big job. Shortly after construction began on the new Mankato headquarters facility, a team of District 7 employees was assembled to plan and orchestrate the move. Team members included Scott Morgan, maintenance operations engineer; Gordy Regenscheid, assistant district engineer-east operations; Tami Bergemann, administration manager; Mike Kelley, physical plant supervisor; and Denny Smith, carpenter. Kelley was assigned to monitor day-to-day work at the new building site. Smith was selected to coordinate the move and act as physical plant supervisor while Kelley worked at the new building.

Smith has been on the move ever since.

How do you prepare for a move that involves a lot of people and equipment?

Office employees have been busy cleaning out files, desks and shelves—the recycle bins got quite a workout. We sorted through years of accumulation in the maintenance shops and found many things that were obsolete or no longer needed. Then we had a garage sale and sold some of these items—we raised $5,500. We may have another garage sale after the move also.

Are you reusing any of the furniture in the new building?

The funding we received for the new building did not include a budget for office furniture, so we hired a furniture design consultant to look at the furniture we had and develop a final furniture design plan that utilized as much of the existing furniture as possible. It’s much easier to buy all new furniture for a project of this size but we needed to reuse and refurbish what we had to save money wherever we could.

How will everything be moved?

A moving company will move and install the office furniture in the new building. Our maintenance employees will move all the boxes in the building and everything from the Maintenance work areas. This includes all equipment, all inventory—every last nut and bolt. This is a huge job and represents the “lion’s share” of the move.

Were you able to incorporate any "green" practices in the moving operation?

Yes. I met with a guy from the local moving company to discuss packing options and found out that they rented plastic bins on wheels. We are using them for the move because they are stronger, easier to handle, environmentally friendly and we won’t have thousands of boxes left over to deal with.

For large and heavy items we are using “Gaylord” boxes. These are heavy-duty cardboard boxes mounted on pallates that come to Mn/DOT shops filled with the glass beads that are added to road striping paint. Mn/DOT is charged $36 for each of these boxes but generally can’t reuse them due to reduced stability—so they are thrown away. I contacted all districts statewide to ask them to save their Gaylord boxes for the D7 move. The districts responded generously and we are using about 250 of these recycled boxes.

So now that it’s nearly over, how do you feel it all went?

Since I started working on this project last March, I have interacted with many employees and learned a little about their jobs and what they need to do their work. We worked through many challenging issues about workspace and equipment needs. Everyone seemed to work together as a team throughout the entire process. Employees were able to see that everyone’s work is important and affects someone else. We were able to see the connections. It was a great experience.

Do you or a co-worker have an interesting job to share with readers? Click here to send us your ideas, and we’ll contact you for more information.

Recent employee profiles:

• On the job: Tina Markeson manages roadside vegetation
• Sharon Johnson makes everything look neat, professional
• Dwayne Stenlund receives award for best practices presentation

By Beth Petrowske

Cloudy skies and the threat of rain didn’t stop 265 runners and scores of walkers from participating in the 2010 State Capitol Run @ Work Day 5K race Sept. 17. Employees from several state agencies competed for medals—and just for fun.

Mn/DOT employees won a total of five medals, including two gold medals.

Mn/DOT medalists

• Ashley Mueller, Technical Support, Consultant Services Section—Female age 18-26—3rd place
• Gary Simon, Human Resources—Male age 36-44—3rd place
• Victoria Nill, Central Corridor Light Rail Transit Project Office—Female age 36-44—1st place, also Female Overall Winner
• Thomas Styrbicki, Bridge Office—Male age 45-53—2nd place
• Chuck Howe, Office of Materials and Road Research—Male age 54+—1st place

For complete race results, visit http://ihub.dot.state.mn.us/wellness/co/events.html.

The State Capitol Run @ Work Day 5K race was planned by the Mn/DOT Central Office Health and Wellness committee. Health and wellness is promoted in varying degrees in most districts. Watch for upcoming events in your district and get information for healthy living at http://ihub/wellness/.