Frac sand fight in Wood County

A frac sand agreement has been set in Wood County despite opposition from Marshfield city officials. The agreement requires the three frac sand companies in Marshfield to pay a fee in order to keep transporting sand on county roads. The agreement has to be signed by Saturday or those companies can't use the roads anymore for that purpose.

Source: Wisconsin Rapids Tribune.

MnDOT issues new local flatwork specifications

MnDOT State Aid has issued its Tech Memo regarding the new local flatwork specifications which are effective immediately. The new specifications provide a more consistent set of requirements and expectations for local agencies and the concrete industry to follow as they progress through a local agency concrete project.

Here is the Tech Memo and here are the Specifications.

Construction overwhelms supply of building materials

The high demand for certain construction materials in western North Dakota is making it difficult for contractors to get supplies. Builders say that could have implications for how quickly new homes get built in Minot and the affordability of that housing.

Minot developer John Coughlin said a shortage exists in construction materials such as gravel, cement, recycled asphalt and riprap.

Read more in Minot Daily News.

Road contractors irked by ban on shutdown claims

Highway contractors are considering their legal options, after discovering that the Minnesota Legislature has barred any shutdown-related damage claims or lawsuit settlements.

"Contractors had to prepare the sites for shutdown, so there's a lot unanticipated, unbudgeted costs that the contractors were responsible for," Dave Semerad, the chief executive of the Association of General Contractors of Minnesota told KARE Friday.

Read more at Kare 11.

Highway construction spending contracts sharply in May

Construction spending fell for the sixth straight month in May, touching an 11-year-low, as shrinking public outlays and residential construction swamped a rise in private nonresidential work, the Associated General Contractors of America reported in an analysis of Census Bureau data. The construction trade association's chief economist, Ken Simonson, predicted spending patterns would continue to be uneven.

Read more in Pit & Quarry.

How to fix crumbling U.S. roads, rails and airways

After more than a decade of declining tax revenue in the United States, highways are crumbling, rail lines are overburdened and airline corridors are congested. Factor in the economic weakness, the public's tax-cutting mindset and geopolitical instability, and an already shaky situation looks ready to worsen for commerce, jobs and several industries that are crucial for transportation infrastructure.

Read more online at MarketWatch.

Old roads hit hardest by heat wave

Road crews scrambled to repair 60 cases of heat-related pavement failure last week in the metro area and around Mankato and Rochester, according to transportation officials.

While pavement buckling isn't uncommon during the hottest days of summer, the number of failure during last week's short, intense heat wave was larger than usual.

Read more in the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

MnDOT opened bids for 29 projects Friday

According to Finance & Commerce, MnDOT opened bids for 29 projects Friday including one that involves a $2 million "ultra-thin" overlay project on stretch of Interstate 94 near Alexandria and another on Highway 10 near Detroit Lakes. The project calls for a thin layer of new pavement that is less than an inch thick; it's designed to prevent cracking and to slow the rate of freeze-thaw deterioration.

MnDOT unveils $398 pavement program

The Minnesota Department of Transportation is launching a four-year program aimed at improving some of Minnesota's most battered pavements.

The $398 million Better Roads for a Better Minnesota effort, announced Tuesday by MnDOT and Gov. Mark Dayton, targets state roads rates as "poor."

Read more in Finance & Commerce.