Ames hopes that you had a wonderful holiday and we thank you for helping build some of the coolest projects in the U.S. At this time of year, people sometimes reflect on the past while making plans for the future. New Year’s resolutions don’t always succeed, but the thought exercise is worth the trip regardless of the destination.
In this spirit, we thought we’d take a look back at the past, examine the present, and hopefully shed some light on the future by reviewing a brief 10-year history of projects awarded to Ames’ Midwest Region in the month of December. Enjoy the trip!
IOWA | 2009
Whispering Willow Wind Farm
Client: Alliant Energy
Scope: Ames constructed access roads and crane pads for 121 wind turbines near Hampton, Iowa.
Size: $30 million
This was Western Region President Tim Odell’s last project in Minnesota. A large portion of this project was constructed in winter conditions. Ames is currently working for Alliant Energy again, with two projects in Iowa and one in Wisconsin.
MINNESOTA | 2009
Sanitary Landfill in Duluth
Client: Minnesota Pollution Control Agency
Scope: Ames worked in the landfill to regrade for final closure.
Size: $1 million
Randy Lagro was the superintendent on this project. He is now back in Duluth working on the Twin Ports Interchange project.
MINNESOTA | 2013
St. Croix Crossing Bridge near Stillwater
Client: MNDOT
Scope: Ames and joint venture partner Lunda Construction built the second extradosed bridge in the United States. An extradosed bridge combines segmental and cable-stayed construction techniques.
Size: $350 million
This project was more than 50 years in the making. The bridge was built over a national scenic byway that required a federal government variance to advance construction. The piers of the bridge were designed to look like reed grass. Ames’ Ruby Belle Tug Boat delivered more than 500 precast segments, each weighing 220 tons, on a 26-mile river journey to the bridge site.
MONTANA | 2016
Milk River Landslide Improvements, near Glendive
Client: BNSF
Scope: Ames installed H-pile and sheet pile to help stop a slope from moving into the river that the railroad tracks were on.
Size: $1.4 million
This project was near the Fort Peck Dam and was built in the unincorporated village of Vandalia, Montana, which was founded in 1904 as a post office for the Great Northern Railway.
NORTH DAKOTA | 2017
Fargo-Moorhead (FM) Diversion Inlet Structure
Client: United States Army Corp of Engineers (USACE)
Scope: Ames is building a dam inlet structure to retain flood waters from the Red River of the North, the first piece of the FM Area Diversion Project.
Size: $55 million
This project broke ground in May of 2017 and then was put in a suspension by the federal government for nearly two years. The structure is one of three dams Ames is building for the USACE for the larger FM Area Diversion Project. Most of the flooding occurs because the Red River flows north to Hudson Bay (one of the few rivers in the U.S. to do so). When the U.S. portion of this 500-mile-long river experiences heavy snowfall followed by warmer temperatures, ice flow blockage occurs, which is the primary source of flooding for the region.
IOWA | 2019
Walter Scott Power Plant North and South Improvements
Client: MidAmerican Energy Company (A Holding of Berkshire Hathaway)
Scope: Ames is removing more than 5 million cubic yards of fly ash from existing ash ponds and replacing it with clean sand while creating capped onsite storage for the fly ash material that will be out of the groundwater table.
Size: $55 million
This project is the first of four contracts Ames has had with MidAmerican since 2015. Ames installed and managed more than 5.5 miles of conveyors to transport material from a borrow source to the project site. The conveyor system eliminated thousands of truck movements.
NORTH DAKOTA | 2020
Wild Rice River Structures
Client: USACE
Scope: Ames is constructing a dam for the Wild Rice River in conjunction with the larger FM Area Diversion Project.
Size: $65 million
This project reroutes the Wild Rice River to a river alignment. The project is one of seven active projects Ames is performing in the area.