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July 14 2018 Vol. XX • No. 14
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“The Nation’s Nation’sBest BestRead ReadConstruction Construction Newspaper… Founded Newspaper… Founded 1957.”1957.”
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Inside
WisDOT I-39/90 Project Runs Ahead of Schedule By Irwin Rapoport CEG CORRESPONDENT
Ozinga Stands for Faith, Family, Vision...10
Blue Ridge Tractor Hosts Open House...14
Soil Connect App Has the Dirt...28
Table of Contents ............4 Paving Section ..........35-49 Wheel Loaders, Tool Carriers & Attachments Section ......................71-88 Auction Section ........92-97 Business Calendar ........97 Advertisers Index ..........98
The $1.2 billion reconstruction and expansion of Interstate 39/90 in south-central Wisconsin, a Wisconsin Department of Transportation’s (WisDOT) project, will be completed in 2021 — one year earlier than previously scheduled — due to an additional $32.7 million that the state is investing in the project that started in 2015. The I-39/90 and WIS 11 (Racine Street) interchange in Janesville was reconfigured in 2013 due to safety concerns with the clover-leaf loop ramp configuration; CEG covered the story, which can be found on the CEG web page. The new funding utilizes the current budget and cost savings. The only work scheduled for post-2021 is for the U.S. 12/18 (Beltline) interchange, which is in the process of an environmental analysis. “This allows the I-39/90 mainline construction to be completed in 2021,” said Steve Theisen, WisDOT’s I-39/90 expansion project communication manager. “The additional funds are available due to lower fuel prices and more competitive bids for the ongoing construction work, which have resulted in increased savings
The I-39/90 project — funded by the federal and state governments — is extending 45 mi. from the Illinois state line to the U.S. 12/18 interchange near Madison.
on road projects. The early opening ensures that our residents will have the infrastructure that is needed to accommodate commerce, job growth and tourism throughout the state.”
The remaining project contracts will be awarded later this year and in 2019. The new funding allows WisDOT to fast-forward projsee WISDOT page 66
Crews Gear Up After Weather Delays Project By Dick Rohland
current and high water levels to the river. Despite this weather hiccup and brief flooding forcing a delay in construction, crews are scheduled to complete all remaining road and flood wall work this summer. Construction is taking place in Afton, Minn., 20 mi. southeast of St. Paul. With a population of nearly 3,000, Afton recently gained international recognition during the 2018 Winter Olympics as home to cross country skier and Olympic Gold Medalist Jessie Diggins. The majority of the work in Afton is occurring on County Road 21, known locally as St. Croix
CEG CORRESPONDENT
As crews geared up this spring to complete the last piece on a major levee, sewer and road construction project in a small, bucolic river village in southeastern Minnesota, mother nature jumped in with different plans for them. A blizzard blew into this part of the Midwest on the weekend of April 14 with high winds, heavy snow and zero visibility. Then, just a week later, spring weather returned. Seasonal temperatures, sunny skies and a quick run-off of 15 in. of moisture laden snow the blizzard left behind brought a swift
A Cat excavator lowers a head wall form ready for concrete into place.
see ROAD page 52