The Twin Ports Interchange Project is a highly complex project located in District 1 in Duluth, MN. The project was constructed with minimal traffic interference, in a tight corridor adjacent to railroad facilities. The topography and geology in Duluth presented multiple challenges for drainage and foundations, and most of the project site was located on top of historical industrial fill. MnDOT needed an experienced partner to help guide the project, and selected WSB due to a long history of collaboration and WSB’s reputation in the Twin Ports area.
Once contracted, the WSB team immediately began to identity and solve constructability and general contractor means and method issues. Lead inspectors were put in charge of problem-solving in the field, to collaborate with superintendents and foremen to resolve all issues that arose. If needed, these issues were elevated to engineering specialists, and ultimately the MnDOT project supervisor, utilizing the “dispute escalation ladder”. Multiple resources, including MnDOT specifications, manuals, online publications, MnDOT specialty staff, other contractors and past lessons learned were utilized to resolve these challenges.
Pre-activity meetings were held to discuss lessons learned, quality planning and review of each contractors work schedules. WSB used all of these methods to successfully collaborate with the District, Central Office Staff, as well as local agencies and the CMGC Contractor to develop and implement processes for planning, building and documenting the project, leading it to completion. Their expertise and problem-solving skills helped the team work as one and complete the project on schedule and budget.
