Dave Wohnoutka, District 8-Willmar, died Sept. 28 at his home after a one-year battle with lymphoma cancer. He was 43 years old.

Wohnoutka began his career in 1989 as a seasonal laborer for MnDOT. He was hired as a full-time highway technician in 1991 and served as a transportation specialist in Construction, Surveys and most recently, Pre-Design.

“Dave brought a little pizazz to this office,” said Pat Jaeger, Wohnoutka’s District 8 co-worker. “He had a great work ethic and really took pride in his work, but most of all, he really made me smile.”

Wohnoutka was an avid outdoorsman who could often be found biking or running along the trails of Green Lake. He also enjoyed roller blading, walking, boating, gardening and spending time with his wife and son.

Wohnoutka was raised in Spicer, Minn., and graduated from New London-Spicer High School in 1987. He is survived by his wife, Victoria; four-year-old son, Chaz; his mother, Diane; five brothers and sisters; 15 nieces and nephews; four great nieces and nephews; and many other relatives and friends.

Employees to participate in safety brainstorming event

By Jessica Wiens

Gov. Mark Dayton is challenging all state employees to reduce the rate of workplace injuries through an initiative called MnSAFE—Safety Accountability From Everyone.

At MnDOT, the primary causes of injuries are slips/trips/falls and overexertion. Slips, trips and falls can occur from going up and down stairs, walking on a slippery surface and getting in/out of a vehicle. Overexertion includes strains, sprains and muscle pulls.

MnDOT employees will participate either in person or online in an agencywide brainstorming event focused on workplace safety between Oct. 22 and Nov. 2.

“All workplace injuries are preventable and we must constantly look out for each other to prevent them,” said Bernie Arseneau, deputy commissioner and chief engineer. “MnDOT is committed to reducing and eliminating workplace injuries. We need every employee’s help to do that.”  

Supervisors will lead the in-person brainstorming events as part of a staff meeting or weekly safety topic. Employees who do not attend a staff meeting during this time, can add their ideas on how to reduce workplace injuries via this online survey.

On average, MnDOT has nearly 300 workers compensation claims each year. In fiscal year 2012, MnDOT’s incident rate was 7.4, meaning 7.4 of every 100 employees experienced an injury that resulted in a workers’ compensation claim.

Gov. Dayton’s mission is to achieve a 25 percent reduction in the rate of workplace injuries for all state agencies by the end of fiscal year 2014. For MnDOT, that means reducing claims to just more than 200 per year.  

When an employee experiences a workers’ compensation injury, it affects not only the employee, but also his/her family, work team and organization. 

“All types of employees experience workplace injuries,” said Todd Haglin, MnDOT statewide safety director. “MnDOT employee injuries aren’t just isolated to people working in the field—there’s a much wider spectrum.”

The information and ideas employees provide in the brainstorm will help MnDOT decide how to move forward with reducing/eliminating workplace injuries.

For more information about the MnSAFE effort at MnDOT, visit http://ihub/mnsafe.

Employees are invited to attend the latest Commissioner’s Reading Corner discussion Wednesday, Nov. 7, at 1:30 p.m., in the MnDOT Library at Central Office.

Mary Young, executive assistant, will lead a discussion of “The Leader’s Mentor,” by Ian Jackman.

Employees also can participate virtually via Adobe Connect and should log in as a guest no earlier than 1:15 p.m. All employees are encouraged to attend, even if they have not yet read the book.

This will be the eleventh CRC event of the 2012 season.

For more information on the Commissioner’s Reading Corner, visit ihub/readingcorner. Employees with questions can contact Qin Tang, MnDOT librarian, at 651-366-3784.

By Stephany Osuji, Office of Customer Relations

The recent Interstate 35E Maryland Avenue bridge project in St. Paul is just one example of MnDOT’s commitment to innovation. Various innovative techniques, most notably the use of Self-Propelled Modular Transporters to move the main span into place, highlighted the project. However, a lesser-known innovation proved essential in providing stability beneath Maryland Avenue in areas where the local soil was unstable.

Expanded Polystyrene, often referred to as Geofoam, is a low-density Styrofoam commonly used as a lightweight fill on construction projects. The foam is approximately one percent the weight of normal fill, such as gravel or dirt, and is used where hard-to-remove organic soils would otherwise compress when being backfilled.

Geofoam has become the lightweight fill of choice for MnDOT’s Foundations Unit for several reasons, according to Rich Lamb, foundations design build engineer. It has similar strength characteristics to soil, but has the enormous benefit of being extremely light—1-2 pounds per cubic foot.

“Using Geofoam is a long-term solution to help stabilize roadways over compressible soils where it would be expensive and hard to remove the poor soils,” said Joey Lundquist, Metro District Design engineer.

During the Maryland Avenue Bridge project, Geofoam was placed under the pavement along Maryland Avenue and the ramps to reduce potential long-term settlement problems while protecting the existing utilities on Maryland Avenue, just west of the new bridge.

Construction crews installed the Geofoam by first excavating the area where the foam would be placed. The blocks were then installed in a staggered pattern until the foam reached the appropriate height. Once the geofoam was in place, it was covered with a thin plastic barrier called a geomembrane. The geomembrane protects the Geofoam from petroleum-based spills. Finally, the foam was backfilled with appropriate grading material and ready for concrete paving.

Although the upfront material cost is high at $50-$80 per cubic yard, Geofoam has proven to have a high return on investment. It also has a track record of being an effective material when dealing with embankments and poor soils, according to Lamb.

“With minimal excavations, we can now construct roadway embankments with Geofoam and basically have no load imparted on soft, organic soils,” Lamb said. “This means virtually no settlement and safe, smooth roadways.” 

Another benefit of Geofoam is how quickly it can be installed, which saves on construction time. Each 4-by-8-by-3 foot block weighs 127 pounds and can easily be handled by four workers, according to Lamb. As much as 1,000 cubic yards can be placed each day.

“Without Geofoam on the Maryland Avenue Bridge project, the contractor would have had to perform very deep and costly excavations to remove the poor soils,” Lamb said. “This may have extended the construction time, something that was a great concern for such a high-profile project.”

By Lisa Yang

MnDOT’s Minnesota GO visioning process received an honorable mention for the 2012 FHWA and Federal Transit Administration’s Transportation Planning Excellence Awards in the category of Public Involvement and Outreach.

“It’s an honor for MnDOT to be recognized by the Federal Highway and Transit Administrations for the Minnesota GO vision,” said Philip Schaffner, Minnesota GO project manager. “We strived to make the process collaborative and to use innovative engagement techniques throughout the effort.”

Minnesota GO was established to better align the transportation system with what Minnesotans expect for their quality of life, economy and natural environment. It is intended to be used by all agencies responsible for transportation planning, construction and delivery in Minnesota to inform their future investment and planning decisions.

The department worked with the Center for Transportation Studies at the University of Minnesota and the public policy, nonprofit Citizens’ League to reach out to Minnesotans, and provided several opportunities for public participation, including:

• Focus group and survey-based, quality-of-life research.
• Three advisory group meetings at which a diverse array of stakeholders discussed environmental health, economic competitiveness and quality of life.
• Website with videos of expert interviews, surveys and opportunities to comment on themes.
• 10 public workshops held throughout the state—one in each of MnDOT’s eight districts in addition to an online workshop and a second workshop in the Metro District.
• Online forum on “Students Speak Out” website where teenagers shared their perspectives.
• Outreach conducted through various social media channels.

Challenges and opportunities identified at these events included aging, increase in diverse population, urbanization, energy shifts, automation, persistent budget challenges and health impacts.

The vision may need to be revisited over time as society, technology, the environment and the economy change, according to Schaffner.

The vision served as the focal point for the recently adopted 20-year Statewide Multimodal Transportation Plan, as well as for the updates now underway to the 20-year State Highway Investment Plan and the State Aviation System Plan.