A Minnowa operator puts this Komatsu PC400LC-6
excavator to work at a jobsite located on County Road
D16 in Buchanan County, Iowa.
culvert up to a 720-foot-long bridge with five piers in Peterson, Minnesota," commented Al.
"It does make you feel good to go over your own work," he added. "But we've done so many, we honestly forget sometimes."
Factors that make a project more difficult - and more appealing - to Minnowa include "the type of stream a bridge crosses, ground conditions, and whether we have to maintain traffic or not," Al explained. "The tightness of quarters relative to nearby businesses or houses is also a factor. If the bridge is up against a hill on one side and maybe not on the other side of the stream, that too affects the complexity of the project."
The largest project Minnowa Construction has worked on is a recent job for the city of Albert Lea, Minnesota. "It was two bridges, approach grading, paving, curb and gutter, lighting and other ground work," said Al. "We subbed out the underground, paving and curb and gutter."
Operator Bill Steele uses a Komatsu PC200LC-6 during a recent Minnowa job entailing
the demolition of a sewer plant.
Unique covered-bridge job
Al Thorson called an unusual job refurbishing and moving a historic covered bridge for the city of Zumbrota, Minnesota, one of his company's most interesting projects. "We moved an old covered bridge that was sitting in a park," he explained. "We placed it over a river and made it part of a trail system for bikes.
"It was challenging and different from anything we had done," continued Al. "We repaired this bridge on site because some of the lumber had rotted out. Then we used two cranes to actually pick it up and move it a quarter of a mile to a framework we had assembled for it to sit on, which was going to be left in place once we got it over the river. It's believed to be the only covered bridge in Minnesota."