Knife River gets 6 projects worth $34 million

Knife River Corp.’s Midwest and Central Texas Divisions, based in Sioux City, Iowa, and Bryan, Texas, were successful bidders on six new projects totaling more than $34 million.

Two of the three Midwest Division jobs are contracts with the South Dakota Department of Transportation. The largest contract for $12.9 million is a concrete paving job on Interstate 29 in Roberts County, S.D.

An $11.4 million SDDOT contract will have the Midwest Division on a second I-29 job in Union County. The third contract is with the Nebraska Department of Roads for $1,825,000 to do a hot-mix asphalt overlay project in Stanton County. Work on all three projects will begin during the 2011 construction season.

“Most all of our work continues to come from the public sector. We are pleased to be awarded these new jobs and continue our working relationship with the South Dakota Department of Transportation and the Nebraska Department of Roads,” said Midwest Division General Manager Terry Hamer in a written statement. “This is a strong boost for our 2011 backlog and will keep many of our employees working full time.”

The three Central Texas Division projects are in the Waco market totaling $8.4 million. Two jobs are on Highway 6 with the largest being a $4 million maintenance contract and the second a $900,000 project on a different section of the highway. The third contract for $3.5 million is on Interstate 35.

“We have an excellent team of estimators working throughout our southern operations,” said Knife River’s Texas President Bill Thomas in a prepared statement. “We continue to see increased competition in our main markets, but that forces us to be more diligent during the bidding process.”

Knife River Corp. is a business unit of MDU Resources Group Inc. The company mines aggregates and markets crushed stone, sand, gravel and related construction materials, including ready-mixed concrete, cement, asphalt, liquid asphalt and other value-added products. It also performs integrated construction services.