“Paving will continue east towards the New Ulm Quartzite Quarries Inc. entrance. After that, weather permitting, paving will continue just west of Nicollet, on westbound lanes towards Courtland as long as weather allows,” said Todd Kjolstad, senior engineering specialist for the Minnesota Department of Transportation.

He said construction crews, which at times number more than 100 workers at a time, can pave about 4,000 feet — a little more than three-quarters of a mile — a day with good weather conditions.

Kjolstad said concrete paving can take place as long as the outdoor temperature is about 36 degrees or higher.

“It’s been dry. That’s for sure. We’ve been blessed. It’s been good for us,” said Kjolstad.

Staff photo by Fritz Busch The New Ulm Spring roadside parking area along Highway 14 has been renovated back to its original use as a place to rest, picnic and enjoy views of the Minnesota River valley.

He added that standpipes along the new highway are tile, some of which lead to farm fields and tap into the highway drainage system.

“We’ll cut them down to grade. They’ll all become inspection tees so we can see if any tile has been damaged,” said Kjolstad. “We filter roadway runoff to retaining ponds and back into the ecosystem.”

Meanwhile, traffic on old and new Highway 14 around Courtland includes lots of heavy construction equipment and farm implements and some semi-tractor trailers on old Highway 14.

Kjolstad said he feels the traffic control plan for the Highway 14 project was pretty good.

“A lot of people put a lot of effort into it,” he said. “We haven’t had a lot of crashes so far. It’s always a challenge to maintain business access and build a road with construction vehicles on and off the project.”

Staff photo by Fritz Busch Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) District 7 Assistant Construction Engineer Victoria Nill, left, and Senior Engineering Specialist Todd Kjolstad stand near the Highway 14 project interchange and gravel pit several miles east of Courtland Tuesday.

The project is on schedule and is set to continue for another year, Kjolstad added.

“We’ve had a pretty good run since mid-May,” he said. “It was cold and rainy earlier, but by June, things dried out and materials used were at optimum moisture.”

Kjolstad said the MnDOT anticipates old Highway 14 in Courtland will go back to the city of Courtland and Nicollet County. Old Highway 14 stops at the County State-Aid Highway 24 intersection in the middle of Courtland.

He said discussion with the project contractor is underway to make the Highway 14-CSAH 24 intersection a four-way stop in the coming months due to intersection sight-lines.

Kjolstad said old Highway 14 is being dug up and recycled for use as aggregate material underneath new Highway 14, using a highway “crusher,” a machine that reduces large rocks into smaller rocks, gravel, sand or rock dust.

He said most grading material or clay has been placed on new Highway 14. Aggregate — material used for mixing with cement, bituminous or other adhesive to form concrete — is being placed. A graded material creates a stable material to pave on and allows for drainage.

Kjolstad said the CSAH 21 intersection with Highway 14 about 3 miles east of Courtland will be closed beginning Monday, Oct. 17.

He said CSAH 12 west of Courtland will remain open all winter, but the stop sign at the intersection with new Highway 14 will be removed over the winter.

The New Ulm Spring roadside parking area built in 1939 by the National Youth Administration, which has been closed off and underutilized for decades, has been renovated. It has been brought back to its original use as a place to rest, picnic and enjoy views of the Minnesota River valley.

While water still flows down the hillside, the spring water outlet has not been restored because the water is not safe to drink and may cause illness, according to a MnDOT kiosk at the roadside parking area.

For more information, visit dot.mn.us/d7/projects/14newulmtomankato/contacts.html

(Fritz Busch can be emailed at fbusch@nujournal.com.)