Minnesota Highways, March 1958

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VOL.  7,  NO. 5
1246 University Ave., St. Paul 4, Minn.
MARCH,  1958
State Highways
Cost $1 Billion
From its inception in 1921
to the present, Minnesota's
state highway system represents a total investment of
more than one billion, 233
million dollars.
Of that sizeable expenditure,
more than one-billion, 50 million
dollars was spent for actual highway construction and maintenance. Only about $183 million
went for other expenses, including equipment, administration,
and such public services as the
Highway patrol and the Drivers
License division.
These facts, as reported by
Commissioner Zimmerman, were
gleaned from a compilation of
Highway department financial
reports prepared by the department's Finance division.
Expansion Speeds Up
The huge sum required for
development and maintenance of
the state's extensive highway
system was obtained principally
from highway user funds—motor
vehicle and gasoline tax revenues—and federal highway aid.
Construction figures alone
show the great increase of Highway department activities. In the
20 years from 1921 through 1940,
slightly more than $234 million
was spent on building the system,
while in the 17 years from 1941
through last December 31, more
than $495 million was spent. The
state now is in the early stages
of building its $728 million sys-
(Continued on page 6)
Present Network Building Totals $18 Million
Pace setter for major highway interchanges in Minnesota's budding Interstate
network links is this bridge and cloverleaf carrying Interstate route 393 (T.H. 100)
over Interstate route 394 (T. H. 65). Construction is largely completed except for
surfacing, landscaping,  and the like.
Future Bridge Inspectors Train
at Dunwoody Industrial Institute
See picture, page 2
Design and construction of
some 1,200 bridges on Minnesota
interstate and trunk highways in
the next 13 years is one of the
problems confronting the Minnesota Highway department as
an important part of its expanding program. A sub-problem is
finding enough inspectors to
check the progress of the construction of the many bridges.
The department has moved to
meet at least partially the question of enough bridge inspectors.
At Dunwoody Industrial institute
in Minneapolis, 36 engineering
employees of the department are
now two-thirds through a six-
week concentrated course of
training to become qualified
bridge inspectors.
It is being conducted for the
Highway department by Dunwoody institute. John C. Hansen,
head of Dunwoody's building
construction and highway departments, is coordinator for the
institute, with Herbert Berg-
strom, bridge construction engineer, as coordinator for the Highway department. The instructors
are William C. Merritt, and
Keith V. Benthin, bridge project
engineers from the Highway department.
Classes meet from 11:15 a.m. to
6:00 p.m., with study periods and
field trips scheduled for the early
mornings. Costs of operating the
school are borne by the Highway
department, with the students receiving their regular pay during
the school term. The students are
providing their own drafting
tools and paying for their textbooks. All students successfully
completing the course will receive graduation certificates.
Moving rapidly to advance
its new interstate network
highways from drawing
board to freeways in use,
Minnesota has nearly $18
million of network routes
actually under construction.
This total includes only projects contracted under the 1956
Congressional act for the network, not projects undertaken
previously on routes absorbed into the network.
Here is a brief summary of interstate network construction so
far under construction in Minnesota:
On Interstate Route 390 (Du-
luth-Albert Lea)—for eight
miles northward from Owatonna,
grading and concrete paving
completed, paralleling T. H. 65,
and six bridges nearing completion. Bituminous surfacing of
shoulders and ramps to be completed this year. Total cost: approximately $3 million.
On I. R. 394 (by-pass route
through Minneapolis for I. R.
390)—eight miles of grading and
10 grade separation bridges
southward from Fifty-fourth St.
in Minneapolis, across Richfield
and Bloomington and continuing
south of the Minnesota river to
Jet. T. H. 13, paralleling T. H.
65; plus about three miles of
frontage roads on I. R. 393 (Twin
Cities circumferential) south of
Minneapolis. Total cost: approximately $3,900,000. A separate
item in the above stretch of work
on I. R. 394 is the bridge to carry the highway over the Minnesota river, to cost $2,800,000.
On I. R. 393—a $4% million
bridge over the Mississippi river
between South St. Paul and Newport, $430,000 of approach grading east of the bridge, and a
nearby $300,000 bridge over the
Chicago, Great Western railroad, for a total of $5,230,000.
On I. R. 391 (east-west route
across southern Minnesota)—two
miles of grading around north
edge of Austin, at $572,000, and
six vehicular bridges and one
pedestrian bridge, at a total of
approximately   $1,243,000,   giving
(Continued on page 6)