This summer Egan’s Southern Minnesota team capped off its two-year project on Winona’s historic bridge.
The city of Winona is nestled along the Mississippi River Valley roughly 100 miles southeast of the Twin Cities. Known for its picturesque bluffs and small town charm, a few of Winona’s most recognizable landmarks are highlighted by Sugar Loaf, a rock pinnacle created by quarrying in the 19th century, and a symbolic pair of bridges that connect Minnesota to Packer Country.
Though its formal name is the Main Channel Bridge, these two bridges are more commonly known as the historic bridge (opened during WWII in 1942) and the new bridge (opened in 2016 – located slightly upstream from its counterpart). Following the opening of the new bridge, the historic bridge closed for necessary rehabilitation. Now, after more than six years of construction, both bridges are finally complete.
Egan’s Southern Minnesota team got the opportunity to provide its electrical expertise on the city’s historic bridge during portions of the rehabilitation process. Much of the team’s work was completed by tying-off to the barrier walls of the bridge making it more challenging.
The scope included all power and communication on the bridge for roadway and aircraft lighting, and navigational beacons. In addition, Egan installed 150+ aesthetic lights that illuminate the infrastructure at night.
As always, staying safe throughout such a high-risk project was top-priority. Significant safety planning and extra patience from the crew was necessary. With no approach stands to access the work or flat surface on the bridge, Egan’s team worked on barges, flew a boom lift up to the bridge deck, and installed lighting utilizing a reach all from underneath the bridge.
“A heavy focus on in-house prefabrication played a key role in this project’s success,” said Nick Schneider, Egan Company Project Manager. “With no flat surface to set-up a bender on the bridge, we prefabricated miles of conduit, all of the off-sets and bends, and over 70 junction boxes to increase efficiency on the jobsite. It worked out extremely well.”
Overall, the bridge was completed on-time and within a compressed schedule. Egan worked approximately 3,500 hours without a recordable injury or dropping/losing anything into the river – which was another team win!
This past July, a ribbon cutting ceremony with the Governor of Minnesota, Winona Mayor, and various U.S. and State Representatives was held to officially mark the re-opening of the historic bridge.
High-rise buildings are the distinguishing trademark of cities around the world. And, being the 16th largest metropolitan area in the country, Minneapolis and St. Paul are no different.
The project was officially awarded to Egan by Bigos Management in late March. From the start, Egan’s team knew the new cooling towers would need to be “flown” up to the top of the building. To do the “flying”, Egan began coordinating and pre-planning with a local crane company, Vic’s Crane and Heavy Haul.
Although there was two feet of snow on the ground when the project started, Minnesota’s infamously, unpredictable spring weather found itself over 85 degrees just a few weeks later. With the previous cooling towers entirely off the building, the countdown was on to get the first new cooling tower operational in order to start cooling all of the buildings within the city block.
A dream came true for a football fan last April when Jason Lindula, Egan Company Safety Coordinator, was gifted a trip-of-a-lifetime.
Egan’s solar site projects vary in size, location, time of year, and type of solar panels – fixed-tilt or tracking. “Tracking” solar panels track the sun’s progress across the sky throughout the day, whereas the fixed-tilt solar panels stay in place. Last summer, 150 Egan electricians were on the 65-acre St. Joseph Solar Farm project to install 28,188 fixed-tilt solar panels.
For many active duty military members, transitioning out of the service can be daunting. Finding housing, employment, and acclimating back into the routine of daily life is a huge hurdle to overcome. And, although disciplined and highly-trained, many military members still struggle with unemployment.
“At times, it is a little confusing for me, but a lot of the habits from the military are still very transferable to my new career,” Martagon said. “I still would do them every day with or without rank.”