MinnesotaBrown

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• MN DOT picks high bridge over mine pit for Hwy 53
• Duluth library faces dramatic, expensive fate
• U of M seeks another chance to revolutionize mining

MN DOT picks high bridge over mine pit for Hwy 53 Posted: 18 Nov 2014 12:45 PM PST An engineer’s rendering of a possible U.S. Highway 53 bridge across the Rouchleau Mine pit in Virginia, Minn. Tests this summer will determine if the bridge is viable option for relocating the highway. (PHOTO: MNDOT) Today the Minnesota Department of Transportation recommended its preferred alternative for the Hwy 53 Relocation project. MN-DOT wants the northernmost route, which will build the state’s tallest bridge — 1,100 feet — across the Rouchleau Pit outside Virginia. After hinting it would do so weeks ago, the DOT explains why it selected the northern route: After lengthy study of several other alternatives, E-2 rated highest in constructablity and cost. Other alternatives had more difficult technical challenges or passed over land that could potentially be mined. The E-2 alternative offers the most workable challenges and has the lowest cost of all the alternatives. So, what is the lowest cost? About $220 million. If funded, this will be the largest transportation project the Iron Range could hope to get this generation. I know people get worked up when I say this, but we are making this investment to keep a road we already have for the benefit of about ten years of mining. The costs of not doing anything are probably larger, due to the loss of jobs and revenue, but it’s very important to realize that this big project is a Catch-22 of bad 1960s planning, come back to feed on a generation that leaders of that time ignored. As I’ve said, I hope at least a little of the money is invested in making the bridge and the entrance to Virginia something that inspires all who drive this route to make better decisions about our region’s long term planning. Written by Aaron Brown for Minnesota Brown © 2014 | MN DOT picks high bridge over mine pit for Hwy 53

Duluth library faces dramatic, expensive fate Posted: 18 Nov 2014 06:00 AM PST PHOTO: Duluth Public Library Facebook page I’m 34, pushing 35. The other day I was thinking, hey there Me! I’ve lived some good life and still have plenty to go. Good for Me! Thanks, Me! And then I read this story about the 34-year-old, almost 35-year-old Duluth Public Library. Peter Passi reported in Sunday’s Duluth News Tribune on a grim view of the condition of the Duluth Public Library after a recent study was released. Officials detailed four options, ranging from an expensive $27 million renovation to a $34 million new library, each of which demonstrate a major administrative challenge for the city of Duluth in coming years. The giant laker-shaped building overlooking the Depot and Lake Superior is an iconic fixture in downtown Duluth, but its size and unique design have betrayed it. It’s a bear to heat, has structural issues, is tough to staff and was built for a time when looking for books was the main purpose of a library. A firm hired to review the building says the city is entering a four-year window where there is still time to fix the problems before they become even more expensive. Writes Passi: Library Manager Carla Powers said Duluth’s downtown library has struggled to adapt to the changing demands of its patrons. “Library service is changing. This was built to be a book library, and libraries are not necessarily solely focused on books these days,” Powers said. The library’s wiring was installed at a time when few anticipated the digital demands that have since emerged. The library’s crowded computer lab consists of 21 computers, and another eight laptops are available for use in the building. But that’s well below the 75-100 computers that typically would be available for use at a modern, comparably sized public library, Powers said. … “We’ve got a lot of space for books but not a lot of space for people in this building,” Powers said, describing how portions of the library aren’t particularly inviting. It sounds like the city went into the process hoping to remodel the existing library, but the report shows all options that address the library’s structural needs will cost between $27-$34 million. Sigh. Maybe I’m not so young after all. Written by Aaron Brown for Minnesota Brown © 2014 | Duluth library faces dramatic, expensive fate

U of M seeks another chance to revolutionize mining Posted: 18 Nov 2014 05:45 AM PST The view of the Hull Rust Mine pit in June 2013. (PHOTO, ndwick, Flickr Creative Commons) The story of mining on Northern Minnesota’s Iron Range is sometimes mischaracterized as the simple story of some guys finding the richest supply of iron in the world followed by generations of mining. There have been some dramatic twists involving high finance by Rockefeller and Carnegie, political alliances between old foes to pass the 1964 Taconite Amendment, and — like any good story — academic research that pumps billions of dollars into the economy, saving towns from certain death … for now. John Myers of the Duluth News Tribune reported in Sunday’s paper about the University of Minnesota’s push to request funding from the legislature this winter to resume research that could revolutionize the state’s rapidly changing mining industry. As Myers reminds us, the University had been center stage in creating the Taconite Era of the Modern Iron Range: Now, university officials propose the school’s biggest mining-focused push since [professor E.W.] Davis invented the processes to separate and concentrate taconite iron ore. That process, perfected in the 1950s, has added a half-century of life to the state’s mining industry after the state’s rich natural iron ore was depleted. Davis once famously said that the ore beneath the towns of the Iron Range would be the death of those towns when it ran out, but then was the central figure in adding a century of life to those towns, although through a process that required far fewer workers and that has become increasingly automated in recent decades. [U of M Vice President of Research Brian] Herman said the effort will bring researchers from the Twin Cities campus together with UMD, NRRI and even the Morris campus to focus on four or five key areas to “optimize extraction” and “minimize environmental and human health impacts of mining.” Those are include “characterization” of geology, not only to pinpoint valuable ores but also determine the pollution potential of the surrounding rock; resource recovery, including new mining techniques to recover valuable ore from waste products; pollution prevention, especially minimizing waste created in the mining process; and new treatment technologies of any mining waste that can’t be avoided. “Can we deliver or develop technologies to mitigate acid mine drainage and sulfate?” Herman asked. If so, he added, that not only would help promote Minnesota mining but could create water treatment technologies that could be used worldwide to help people in need of safe drinking water. Once can sense a bit of cautious skepticism in the quotes of industry types, but on the other hand you can also see how technology like what Herman describes could improve the prospects and perhaps minimize the impacts of current and new mining projects in Northern Minnesota. Written by Aaron Brown for Minnesota Brown © 2014 | U of M seeks another chance to revolutionize mining