Highway 23 Paynesville Bypass Project

Coldspring’s Aggregate Provides a Base for Minnesota’s Highway 23 Paynesville Bypass

As with many of the older roadways in the United States, increased traffic has made them congested and ultimately unsafe. Minnesota State Highway 23 is one roadway facing the dilemma of too much traffic for a route that has been in existence since the 1920s. The highway, located in central Minnesota approximately 80-miles northwest of Minneapolis, serves as a major connection between the area’s residents and employment centers, as well as being a key recreational and tourist access route. At 343-miles, it is the second longest state road in Minnesota.

In order to improve mobility and safety for motorists traveling along the Highway 23 corridor, the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) embarked on a project to extend 7.7-miles of the divided highway. Known as the Paynesville Bypass project, work began in mid-April, 2010 and was completed in July, 2012. Along with the

construction of a four-lane divided bypass, the project also included grading, construction of eight bridges, surfacing, and lighting.

The Quarry Next Door

To procure materials for the project, the contract-ing company, KGM Contractors Inc., worked with Kraemer Trucking and Excavating Inc. located in Cold Spring, Minn. Kraemer Trucking had to look no further than its “own backyard” for the raw materials.

Several years ago, Coldspring, headquartered in Cold Spring, Minn., began a quest to under-stand how its business impacted the environment and the communities it serves. Natural stone is an environmentally preferable material compared to many other products such as concrete or composites due to its durability, minimal processing needs and local availability in many markets. Coldspring’s goal is to become the greenest stone manufacturer in the world.

In particular, the Quarry Materials Division utilizes quarried materials that are not suitable for dimensional stone applications to create jetty, rip-rap and aggregate. This extracted stone is perfect for use on construction job sites by excavating companies, contractors, landscapers, and trucking companies. Applications for the extract-ed stone include all construction aggregate uses including concrete stone, bituminous mixtures, road bases, rail sub ballast and ballast, erosion control, shore protection and dam reconstruction. Coldspring was able to supply and deliver the Open Graded Aggregate Base (OGAB) needed for the project. They had a good source of high quality granite that was conveniently only 15 miles from the project site.

Paynesville Bypass Project

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Meeting the Needs of a Local Market

For the Highway 23 project, Coldspring supplied 43,000-tons (the equivalent of 2,150-truckloads) of granite aggregates from multiple quarries. The granite aggregate was provided in sizes from 3/8-inch to 1-inch. The stone was used to build an 8-inch base of rock for the Paynesville bypass. It formed a drainage layer to remove water and minimize cold weather frost issues, and was placed directly below the new highway. Concrete was then poured on top of the Open Graded Base. The granite was sized to provide an interlocking base that was workable and significantly more stable than other locally available gravel base materials. With granite aggregate as a base, edge drains and overall drainage are maintained throughout the pavement life,

which minimizes the possibility of concrete breakage and cracking.

Kraemer Trucking crushed the material to meet the project’s specifications. The company performs residential and commercial site work, as well as municipal projects including street construction. Kraemer Trucking has a long working relationship with Coldspring, having completed many projects with them over the past 40 years.

Stone: Aggregates

Quantity: 43,000 tons

KGM Contractors Inc.

Angora, MN

Kraemer Trucking and Excavating

Cold Spring, MN

Project Materials:

Contractors:

Minnesota Department of

Transportation (mnDOT)

Project Owner:

Coldspring

Cold Spring, Minnesota

Material Supplier:

“The Coldspring team was very critical to the success of the project. They were willing to accommodate as needed to overcome the hurdles that inevitably come with the construction world”

Chad KraemerPresident of Kraemer Trucking

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Ahead of Schedule

One of the major challenges on this project was a very tight time frame. Because of Minnesota’s weather challenges – a winter season that can last for 6-months – the season to do road projects is very, very small. According to Chad Kraemer, President of Kraemer Trucking, due to the project timelines and scheduling, the OGAB had to be delivered at a high rate to keep the project on schedule.“Coldspring accommodated the exces-sive truck traffic by opening their gate hours as long as needed,” said Kraemer. “This was crucial to be able to deliver the daily quantities needed to keep the project on schedule. To keep the trucks rolling, most work days would start at 6:00 AM and end at 8:00 PM.”

Adding to the timeframe challenge, the project faced a month-long shutdown due to the non-ratification of the state budget, which caused all government activities to cease operations. Yet, even with the shortened work seasons and the government shutdown, the Highway 23 Paynesville Bypass was completed more than a month ahead of schedule.

A Team Effort

Because of the MnDOT’s strict standards, Kraemer Trucking needed to produce a granite product that met their tough gradation specifications. “Coldspring allowed us to be selective in the feed material needed to produce the specified material for the project,” Kraemer noted.

“The Coldspring team was very critical to the success of the project. They were willing to accommodate as needed to overcome the hurdles that inevitably come with the construction world,” said Kraemer.

For the travelers on Highway 23, they now have a safer, less congested route between Willmar and St. Cloud, Minn. For Coldspring, the company was again able to prove itself a valuable partner by providing the aggregate, from a nearby processing facility, at the density and durability required.

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17482 Granite West Road Cold Spring, MN 56320-4578T 800.328.5040 F 320.685.8490C O L D S P R I N G U S A . C O M