Twenty years ago, Ames and our Zumbro River Constructors joint venture partners were wrapping up the first year of construction on the TH-52 Rochester Design-Build project, better known as ROC 52.
ROC 52 was the largest one-time project awarded up to that point by the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) for highway construction improvement. The joint venture partners performed a complete rebuild of 11 miles of U.S. Highway 52, which runs through the heart of Rochester, home to the internationally renowned Mayo Clinic. The existing four-lane freeway was widened to six lanes to provide three through-lanes in each direction.
One of the more unusual aspects to the project was that the crew was subjected to security checks whenever foreign dignitaries were visiting the clinic. And with 2004 being a presidential election year, several politicians campaigned in the region, bringing Secret Service agents with them.
Ames not only met the project’s budget but accelerated the completion date by one full year. The project earned the American Public Works Association’s 2006 Project of the Year Award for transportation projects over $100 million, and the Design-Build Institute of America’s 2006 Merit Award for transportation projects over $50 million.