By Sue Roe

Editor's note: This is the first of a two-part series about the flood of 1965 and MnDOT’s flood mitigation efforts.

April marks the 50th anniversary of what some people still refer to as the flood of the century in Minnesota. The 1965 flooding caused destruction in five states and only the northeastern and far northern parts of Minnesota escaped nature’s force that year.

Thirteen people died in Minnesota and damage to property ran into the millions of dollars.

A record cold and snowy spring, followed by rapid thawing and rainfall caused the widespread flooding along many of the state’s river basins.  

In St. Cloud, 51.7 inches of snow fell in March and 35 inches were still on the ground on March 29. Two weeks later, only a trace of snow remained. At the state’s official recording station at the Minneapolis-St Paul airport, precipitation was recorded on 16 of 30 days in March.

“Many of the streams, which were covered by snow and ice in March, were raging torrents in full flood in April,” according to 1970 report issued by the U.S. Department of Interior.

The Minnesota River crested at 17 feet above flood stage on April 15 at Savage. A day later, the Mississippi River crested at 12 feet above flood stage at St. Paul, where 800 people were evacuated from low lying areas and flooding was a mile wide.  The flooding continued its damaging path downstream.  The Mississippi remained at flood stage for nearly a month.

MnDOT maintenance crews worked around the clock to keep highways open to traffic, close them when they became unsafe, keep bridges and culverts clear of ice and debris and fill in eroded areas. Crews also operated snowplows to push chunks of ice from highways and partnered with other groups to fight off the flooding.

The November 1965 Minnesota Highways, MnDOT’s employee magazine at the time, reported maintenance crews worked 13 to 16 hours a day, seven days a week for flood cleanup.

“The St. Paul airport had seven feet of water on its runway,” remembers Dick Lambert, retired MnDOT Ports and Waterways director.

George Thibault worked in the right of way office in 1965. “I just moved to Eagan and there weren’t many places to cross the Mississippi River into St. Paul. Interstate 35W in Burnsville was closed and I-35E wasn’t built until the 1980s. Shepard Road through downtown St. Paul had six to eight feet of water.”

On April 10, 1965, the Minnesota River at Mankato crested at the second-highest level ever reached, just shy of the flood of 1993. More than 60 inches of snow fell that winter and spring.  At Granite Falls, near the start of the Minnesota River, officials used dynamite to blow out ice jams. That sent the flow of water toward Mankato.

Petra DeWall, waterways engineer in the Bridge Office, remembers reading about the Mankato area flooding when researching bridges for a scour study.

“The Minnesota River almost took out the old bridge on Hwy 169 north of LeSueur. At the time, flood plain pier foundations were set higher than channel piers to save money,” she said.  “The flooding caused the river to change course, moving the main channel into the flood plain. Several of the piers were subjected to scour, exposing the pilings. MnDOT hired a company to design scour countermeasures to make sure the river wouldn’t shift again.”

Bridges, local roads and culverts were battered statewide. Although few bridges actually washed out or were heavily damaged, the surging flood waters and ice jams wrecked bridge pilings, piers, decks and railings.

“One bridge had to be dynamited and bulldozed because ice jams damaged the structure. There were areas where channels were cut to a depth of more than 20 feet below the highway surface and up to 200 feet long,” according to the May 1965 Minnesota Highways.

No major segments of trunk highways were wrecked or washed out.  Some of the damage was because narrow snowplowing during the harsh winter left high snowbanks along the shoulders. When the snow melted, the shoulders eroded. Damage to state highways was costly not because of the heavy destruction in limited areas, but because lesser damage was so widespread.

John Swanberg, chief engineer of the then Minnesota Highway Department, wrote, “The trunk highways’ major survival of so much fast moving water for so long a period is convincing evidence that the Highway Department over the years has built well against the destructive forces of nature, in choice of location and in sturdiness of design and construction. It is evidence, also, that roadways and bridges were well maintained over the years against deterioration.”

See YouTube videos of the Mankato area flooding at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o28q8DfMJYE or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unD0m976XF4

Next issue: We’ll take a look at what MnDOT does today to protect infrastructure and keep people safe from flooding.

By Mary McFarland Brooks

MnDOT employees from around the state will honor fallen transportation workers Tuesday, April 28 during Workers Memorial Day.

Several events will take place to honor workers who were killed or injured on the job, including:

• 8:30 a.m. – District 7/Mankato (2151 Bassett Drive)
• 9 a.m. – District 6/Rochester Truck Station maintenance facility (2900 48th St. NW)
• 10 a.m. – Metro District/Roseville (1500 West County Road B-2)

The Metro District observance will include remarks by Commissioner Charlie Zelle and Metro District Engineer Scott McBride, along with Minnesota State Patrol Lieutenant Tiffani Nielson. Tim Worke from the Association of General Contractors and Mike Lindholt, president of AFSCME Local 221, will also provide comments. 

Since 1960, 34 MnDOT workers and 15 contractors have lost their lives while working on Minnesota highways.

April 28 has been recognized nationally and locally since 1989 as a day of remembrance for workers who were injured or killed on the job.

Dave Schwarting, District 3 principal engineer, and Rocky Haider, state program administrator principal in the state Maintenance Office, are now eligible for the state vacation donation program.

The programs allows employees to donate up to 40 hours of vacation per fiscal year for approved recipients who have exhausted their sick and vacation leave due to injury or illness.

Schwarting underwent a life-threatening heart transplantation Jan. 5 at the University of Minnesota Medical Center after being implanted two and a half years ago with a heart pump (Left Ventricular Assist Device).

Haider is suffering from cancer and has been out of work since April 9.

As a result of their life-threatening medical conditions, Schwarting and Haider are unable to work and have exhausted all of their sick and vacation leave.

Employees may donate up to 40 hours of vacation per fiscal year; however, donations in any amount are helpful. Hours donated are not considered taxable income for the donor nor are they considered tax-deductible expenses.

To donate, please:
• Log into the State Employee Self-Service website
• Click on “Other Payroll.”
• Click on “Leave donations.”
• Click on “Input Your Leave Donations,”
• Click on the magnifying glass next to “Reserve Bank” to open a list of names.
• Choose the employee’s name you would like to donate to.
• Enter the number of hours that you wish to donate.
• Click on the yellow “Save” box.
The paper form is also available online (PDF).

By Shannon Fiecke

Across the state, employees are doing their part to improve MnDOT’s bottom line and help the agency operate more efficiently.

Their efforts are big and small: Everything from identifying a possible $2 million savings in the Hwy 53 relocation project to “right-sizing” trash receptacles to cataloguing culvert data.

On April 9, office and division directors along with district engineers gave progress reports on their areas’ initiatives to support MnDOT’s Wildly Important Goal of Enhancing Financial Effectiveness.
 
 “This may not be earth-shattering, but it’s a very concrete step to getting a better handle on our assets,” said Amr Jabr, assistant division director for Operations Division, of District 4’s effort to verify location data on more than 4,000 culverts.

In addition to activities that support the four main battles of EFE (Asset Management, Financial Management, Project Management, and Information and Outreach), each district or office has several “Other WIG Supporting Activities” (called OSWAs) under way to improve processes and make systematic changes that will help MnDOT do its business smarter and better.

Some goals are more territorial or technical in nature, such as Human Resources’ goal to get succession plans in place for all key managerial positions by next year, or the Bridge Office’s goal to enter 90 percent of new bridges into a management system within five days of receiving certain deliverables.

Other initiatives could be replicated agency-wide, such as District 4’s efforts to “right-size” its trash bins.

“Just by switching sizes and adjusting the frequency of pickup, we’re saving about $13,000 per year,” said Jodi Martinson, District 4 transportation district engineer.

In District 6, staff morale is up and meal reimbursement costs are down 30 percent following a new policy that requires receipts for meal reimbursement. The change also enabled the district to educate employees on reasonable and allowable requests.

“The morale is improved because employees know others are now being reimbursed only for actual expenses,” said Patty Eckdahl, District 6 administrative manager. 

MnDOT employees are using a strategy called The 4 Disciplines of Execution to formulate and track their efforts to improve financial effectiveness. 

Deputy Commissioner and Chief Financial Officer Tracy Hatch said she wants every employee engaged in achieving the agency’s goal of Enhancing Financial Effectiveness. The tools that employees are using, through The 4 Disciplines of Execution, to achieve that goal will live on in the culture of the organization.

“When we’re done with our current goal, it’ll be in our DNA and that’s the big payoff,” Hatch said.

The complete list of OSWA report-outs will be available later on the EFE website on iHUB.

Break-out
Here’s highlights of other WIG-supporting activities across the state:

District 1
To reduce the cost of relocating Highway 53, designers slightly increased the grade that’s planned through a rock cut. This will save an estimated $2 million. “It’s a good example how a slight design change can save a lot of money,” said District Engineer Duane Hill.  

District 2
A preventative equipment maintenance initiative is “saving mechanics lots of time,” said District 2 Engineer Craig Collison.

District 3
A new orientation program that uses e-learning and internal talent was created to get new employees trained faster.

District 4
After “right-sizing” waste receptacles (a $13,000-plus per year savings), the district is looking at putting fences around dumpsters at rest areas. This may save an additional $10,000 to $15,000 per year in pick-up/disposal fees.

Metro District
This summer, Metro District aims to reduce the time it takes to repair a guardrail.

District 6
One third of obsolete names (nearly 1,100) were taken off the public information mailing list, a goal that was generated by the Executive Assistants Leadership Group. 

District 7
The district is identifying communities in its 10-year plan to hold pre-planning meetings, which should build goodwill and also help MnDOT plan better projects.

District 8
The district has nearly completed its May 15 goal of accelerated training of newer construction inspectors to help close the experience gap that came from a wave of retirements.

By Shannon Fiecke

Going green also often means saving green – and in the case of paper usage at MnDOT, lots of green.

Since 2010, employees at MnDOT’s Central Office reduced printing by 40 percent — a $210,000 savings. That’s the equivalent of 5.2 million pages of paper, which, if stacked, would be twice as tall as the IDS Center in Minneapolis.

“This is dramatic – it’s a huge savings, and mostly due to technological changes that occurred from 2013 to 2014,” said Tom Johnson, MnDOT Support Services Section director.

The reduction is primarily due to the increased use of electronic signatures, electronic sharing of documents and double-sided printing, and the 2013 implementation of an electronic purchasing system called Electronic Interoffice Requisitions or EIOR.

Before fiscal year 2010, the default setting on most of MnDOT’s printers was single-sided, the purchasing/requisition system was entirely paper-based and electronic signatures were rarely used for official documents.  An electronic document transfer system was in place, but not used as much as it is today.  As a result, MnDOT printed more than 13 million pages in fiscal year 2010 compared to eight million last year.

MnDOT districts also implemented EIOR and are working on similar goals to increase electronic signatures and make double-sided printing the default setting on all printers. Paper reduction numbers weren’t available for them, however.

The Office of Environmental Stewardship is also doing its part, pursuing an electronic system for landscape design planning that takes advantage of geospatial information and mobile hand-held technologies.

“The team demonstrated dramatic progress, including the potential to reduce up to 85 percent of the paper usage and up to 70 percent of processing time, without sacrificing accessibility to necessary details or plan information,” said Scott Bradley, Office of Environmental Stewardship assistant director.

Each year, state agencies set sustainability goals and report the progress of old ones. Paper reduction is just one of those accomplishments recently shared with the governor’s office.  Here are some others:

• For the first time, MnDOT used its changeable message signs along metro interstates to issue air quality alerts to the greater public on days with poor air quality.
• A new pilot project is exploring new avenues for the recycling of waste.
• Continued expansion of fuel-efficient vehicle fleet.
• Inventory of facilities’ water distribution systems is complete. The next goal is to replace 10 percent of inefficient technologies with efficient fixtures and equipment.
• Elimination of any products that contain Triclosan, an antibacterial ingredient that was recently banned by the state of Minnesota due to possible health risks.

By Rich Kemp

The Center for Transportation Studies held its annual awards event April 6. MnDOT employees received two of the awards.
Tim Henkel, Modal Planning and Program Management Division director, received the Richard P. Braun Distinguished Service Award. The award is presented annually to a transportation professional for outstanding leadership in research and innovation. It is named after founding CTS Director Richard Braun for his leadership and contribution to research, and as a champion of transportation innovation.

Henkel oversees the offices of Passenger Rail, Transportation System Management, Freight and Commercial Vehicle Operations, Transit, Aeronautics, Transportation Data and Analysis, and Research. His 30-year transportation career also includes working with local government, the private sector, and numerous MnDOT areas, including executive leadership of multimodal planning, program management, and project development and delivery.

“It is truly a privilege to work with the Center for Transportation Studies and an honor to be associated with Richard Braun," said Henkel. “That said, I accepted the award on behalf of the many MnDOT leaders that collectively contribute to innovative transportation solutions and our national reputation as leaders in innovative transportation solutions.”

MnDOT employees were part of a group that received the Research Partnership Award. The group develped a new design tool — named MnPAVE-Rigid — that produces a program that better models concrete pavements and ensures that road designs better match local conditions. New designs are typically one to two inches thinner than what was called for from the previous procedure, which will significantly reduce construction costs.

MnPAVE-Rigid, a stand alone Windows executable program, was officially made the MnDOT concrete pavement design program in 2014. It’s now being used by MnDOT district personnel and by MnDOT-contracted consultants.

Project partners with the MnDOT team were: Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geo- Engineering, University of Minnesota and the Concrete Paving Association of Minnesota.

The MnDOT team included: Luke Johanneck, Steven Henrichs, Maureen Jensen, Tim Andersen, Tom Burnham, Maria Masten, Bruce Tanquist, Bernard Izevbekhai, Dan Warzala and Alan Rindels.

During the event, Commissioner Charlie Zelle also presented a public leadership award to Sen. Scott Dibble. Sen. Dibble chairs the Senate Transportation and Public Safety Committee and is an innovative leader on legislation related to improving transportation and transit, energy efficiency, the environment, housing, and economic development. He serves as a member of the CTS Executive Committee.

By Becky Niyukuri

Maintenance training

The MnDOT maintenance training website recently got a facelift, and is now reorganized and updated in the newest standardized web format. Maintenance supervisors and employees use the website to accomplish equipment and mobile crane training, to access job aids and to log in to maintenance-specific e-learning courses. The website training content is designed to help prepare maintenance employees to safely operate and work around a variety of equipment and to safely perform job site tasks.

Check it out on A to Z under “Maintenance Training” or at ihub/training/maintenancetraining/.

MnDOT environmental stewardship

The MnDOT environmental stewardship website was recently reorganized and optimized for viewing on mobile devices. Learn more about the agency’s environmental programs and services, including transportation-related environmental assessment, modeling and testing, planning and design and more. Some of the more popular topics include erosion control and stormwater management resources, noise information (MnDOT’s noise policy is in the process of being updated) and regulated materials guidance.

Check it out on A to Z under “Environmental Stewardship” or at mndot.gov/environment/.