More work on St. Croix River bridge going to local companies

Sunnyside Marina is seen in the background in this photo illustration of the planned St. Croix Crossing, expected to be completed in 2016. This view,

Sunnyside Marina is seen in the background in this photo illustration of the planned St. Croix Crossing, expected to be completed in 2016. This view, looking northwest, shows the ramps to Minnesota 95 on the west side of the St. Croix River and the curve to meet Minnesota 36 in Oak Park Heights. About three miles of the two highways will be rebuilt as part of the project, which is estimated to cost as much as $675 million. (Courtesy of Minnesota Department of Transportation)

When the new St. Croix River bridge is finished in two years, locals can be proud that local labor and materials made it happen.

The primary contractor for the project, in part federally funded, has turned to nearby businesses on both sides of the river for subcontracting work.

Cement will come from Grey Cloud Island. American steel will be installed by a Hudson, Wis., contractor. Painting will be done by a New Hope-based business.

There are some good reasons to tap local businesses, besides funneling money back to the regional economy.

"(The contractor) has existing relationships, but the labor in our area is very high quality, they're comfortable with the environment they're working in, they can work year-round. So there's a lot of advantages in using the skilled labor we have in our region and our state," said Minnesota Department of Transportation project director Jon Chiglo. "So all those things come into play when the contractor chooses who they want. ... Price does play a factor, but familiarity and relationships and quality of the labor comes into play, as well."

Chiglo said, "the vast majority of subcontractors are local." More than $80 million will go to selected local subcontractors, according to MnDOT.

The bridge project, which includes a new span across the St. Croix River between Oak Park Heights and St. Joseph, Wis., and highway approaches on both sides, was priced at about $629 million and is scheduled to be complete in 2016. The new bridge will replace the Stillwater Lift Bridge, which will become part of a hiking and biking trail.

In December, the Minnesota and Wisconsin departments of transportation announced a $332.5 million contract with Lunda/Ames Joint Venture to build the superstructure.

Lunda/Ames is a partnership between Burnsville-based Ames Construction and Black River Falls, Wis.-based Lunda Construction. The contract is the largest associated with the project and one of the largest MnDOT has ever let for bids.

Lunda/Ames collects and selects bids for subcontracting work. According to MnDOT, at least $88 million will be paid to local contractors, including:

-- J&L Steel and Electrical Services, a Hudson, Wis.-based business, will install all the steel and do electrical work. The $65 million contract is the biggest the company has landed, but its track record includes the new Interstate 35W bridge in Minneapolis.

"Of course, we're putting our local labor force to work," J&L owner LouAnne Berg said. "An advantage of working on a larger project like this, as a subcontractor, is we can focus a lot of our resources on this one job. ... And we know we're going to be working on this through 2015, so what we can tell people is much more positive on long-term projects."

-- Cemstone -- headquartered in Mendota Heights, with locations in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa -- is "supplying a large amount of concrete for the project to build all the piers and for one of two precast segment casting yards," Chiglo said. The contract is about $11 million.

-- Aggregate Industries, which is headquartered in Eagan but operates the Nelson mine on Grey Cloud Island in south Washington County, "will be supplying concrete for the other casting yards, consisting of all the large segments that will make up the main span of the bridge," Chiglo said. The contract is about $10 million.

-- New Hope-based Rainbow Inc. will do all the painting of the structure, at a cost of about $2 million. The company's resume includes work on the new I-35W bridge.  Rainbow Inc. is a proven, recognized, reputable and recommended leader in the field. As a highly skilled and specialized painting contractor, they offer a host of professional solutions with a core expertise in Commercial, Industrial and Transportation applications. Rainbow, Inc. is a union contractor that has current agreements with several (IUPAT) Paint District Councils, along with other AFL-CIO trade agreements.

There are jobs created out of these contracts, and there are ripple effects of the manpower during the life of the project, Chiglo said.

"At our peak, we'll have a couple hundred people working on the site, just on the bridge, and a couple hundred working on the approach project, as well," he said. "Some of those people go home at night, some stay at hotels. All of them eat lunch, so there's some advantages to having all those folks working in this area."

Source: Twincites.com