The combination of aging infrastructure, traffic demands, and construction of The Shops at West End, a mixed-use development, spurred the City of St. Louis Park to reconstruct Park Place Boulevard. In addition to the needed roadway capacity, operational, and safety improvements, a special emphasis was placed on streetscaping enhancements inspired by the City’s desire for Park Place Boulevard to serve as a user-friendly gateway into the community.

Implementation of the Park Place Boulevard project required an intensive coordination and communication effort between all project stakeholders, including MnDOT, Metro Transit, Duke Realty, private utility companies, and multiple business and property owners. SRF successfully managed this effort by assigning a construction engineer to manage the day-to-day project needs and activities, as well as a business liaison who worked closely with local business and property owners to proactively provide information regarding planned construction activities and address their individual questions and concerns.

“SRF worked closely with the City to not only implement needed roadway and streetscaping improvements along Park Place Boulevard, but to reach out to project stakeholders to ensure they were well informed of the proposed improvements and construction-related activities.” – Scott Brink, PE, St. Louis Park City Engineer

SRF assisted NDDOT with the 9th Street and I-94 Interchange Embankment Stabilization project by providing construction engineering, surveying, and testing. SRF provided construction administration and construction survey for grading and the installation of geofoam, storm sewer, and wick drains.  The construction administration and survey included scheduling and conducting the pre-construction conference, on-site full-time observations, monitoring the contractor’s daily work, tracking quantities, assisting with weekly construction meetings, and coordinating all survey needs and all necessary testing and monitoring.  SRF was also responsible for keeping accurate and complete records of the contractor’s work as described in the Construction Records Manual and for processing pay requests on a regular basis.

SRF was retained to assist NDDOT with the construction observation of a Concrete Pavement Repair project for I-29 southbound lanes between the Christine Interchange and the Wild Rice River.  SRF provided construction observation for

• Concrete pavement repair
• Overlay patching
• Installation of rumble strips
• Pavement markings

SRF performed the design, plan preparation, and construction administration / observation for the Northwood Parkway bridge over I-35, roadway approaches, and roundabout. The project included grading, aggregate base, bituminous base and wearing course, roundabout construction, concrete curb and gutter, storm sewer, trail, lighting, bridge, utility relocations, erosion control, and final restorations. Because the bridge crossed a federal interstate roadway, the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) had direct project oversight.

SRF provided contract administration, surveying and observation services for the City of Eagan, which included the following:

• Weekly progress meetings
• Agency coordination with City of Eagan, Dakota County, and MnDOT
• Documentation in compliance with MnDOT and FHWA requirements
• Processing of monthly contractor pay requests
• Utility coordination, including phasing construction with Dakota Electric lines
• Local business liaison services to address potential construction impacts
• Monitored staging and traffic control, including:
• Maintaining existing traffic through the proposed roundabout
• Coordinating freeway lane closures on I-35 for bridge construction
• Material testing and inspection
• Observation of the installation of reinforced-soil slope and compliance monitoring

The long-awaited decision by the Minnesota State Legislature to allow construction of a new hospital in the City of Maple Grove stimulated 600 acres of new development surrounding the I-94/CSAH 30 area and necessitated the construction of approximately $60 million in infrastructure improvements. Since the improvements required a modification to I-94, full oversight was required by MnDOT and FHWA. SRF performed numerous in-construction activities, including:

• Multi-phase staging, including night work and lane closures, on I-94 and local roads.
• Construction staking
• Construction observation and contract administration in compliance with state and federal requirements.
• Complex utility relocation, including a Metropolitan Council sanitary sewer interceptor, fiber-optic trunk cable, and high pressure natural gas.
• Coordination amongst numerous stakeholders, including regulatory agencies, utilities, MnDOT, City of Maple Grove, Hennepin County, Metropolitan Council, and local businesses.

Awards

• MSPE 2008 Seven Wonders of Engineering
• CEAM 2007 Municipal Project of the Year Award