'We get to work when it's ugly'

St. Louis County’s Public Works employees have worked a lot of hours in responding to the recent flooding.

St. Louis County Public Works employees have so far put in more than 5,000 hours of labor to fix washed out roads, repair culvert failures and address other issues from the torrential rain that recently inundated much of the county, according to the St. Louis County Public Works Department.

Public Works employees worked two weeks of 12-hour days to get many roads back into shape.

And they continue to work long hours.

“Roads are still being repaired,” Brian Boder, St. Louis County Deputy Public Works director—Maintenance Operations said. “In the fifth, sixth and seventh districts, about 95 percent have been repaired. In the fourth district, we’re still in the repair mode and probably will be for the next couple weeks.”

More than seven inches of rain on June 18 fell within a 24-hour period in portions of the county.

Particularly hard hit were northern portions of the county.

Flood damage occurred at 1,344 locations impacting 475 miles of road, according to the county.

Of the 1,344 locations, 50 percent were road and shoulder washouts, 40 percent culvert failures and 10 percent other damages, according to the county.

The flooding closed a maximum of 75 roads during the event, the county said.

In total, $900,000 worth of labor has so far been performed to repair road and bridge infrastructure damage, according to the county.

That includes regular hours and overtime, Boder said.

Including the $900,000, an estimated $1.8 million in road and bridge infrastructure damage occurred, the county said.

As a result, the damages will be a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and Federal Highway Administration level disaster for the county, Boder said.

With approval, that would lead to federal reimbursement for repair costs, Boder said.

The far-reaching St. Louis County District Four, including the Aurora, Babbitt, Ely, Hoyt Lakes, Tower, and Soudan areas, was hardest hit, Boder said.

“There was extensive damage in the fourth district that impacted much of the district,” Boder said.

Within the District Four maintenance area, 1,080 locations incurred damage totaling 371.71 miles, according to the county.

The three northern St. Louis County commissioners say the Public Works Department has done yeoman’s work.

“It’s been fantastic work by our staff with the task of having 45 plus roads closed,” Paul McDonald, St. Louis County Fourth District commissioner said. “Our public works employees went the extra mile to keep our citizens safe with signing, etc. and worked tirelessly to get the roads open again for our citizens. I am extremely proud of our entire team and also the 9-1-1 staff who were seemingly everywhere. We have a first class organization.”

St. Louis County District Six, including the Eveleth, Gilbert, Virginia areas and to the south, incurred damage at 127 locations totaling 49.29 miles, according to the county.

“Public works did a great job keeping roads open and people safe,” Keith Nelson, St. Louis County Sixth District commissioner said. “All the while not breaking the bank.”

St. Louis County District Seven, including Chisholm and Hibbing areas, had 71 damage locations totaling 32.26 miles, the county said.

“I was getting texts at quarter to five from Joe Hanegmon (a road maintenance supervisor) keeping us updated,” Mike Jugovich, St. Louis County Seventh District commissioner said. “They were up early and working late. They were busting their butts. I cannot say enough praise about them. We should all be singing songs about the St. Louis County workforce. I cannot say enough about our workforce and how fortunate we are to have them.”

Jugovich said area elected officials such as Rep. Roger Skraba of Ely, Rep. Dave Lislegard of Aurora, Sen. Rob Farnsworth of Hibbing, and Sen. Grant Hauschild of Hermantown, worked in bipartisan fashion in response to the flooding.

U.S. Sen. Tina Smith called and said, ‘We will do everything we can to make these communities whole,’ Jugovich said.

“We had everybody on deck,” Jugovich said.

To the south, St. Louis County District Five, north of Duluth and to the North Shore, incurred 66 damage locations totaling 21.4 miles, according to the county.

St. Louis County Public Works is responsible for maintaining and snow plowing on more than 3,000 miles of county-state aid highways, county roads and unorganized township roads.

It also maintains over 600 bridges more than 10-feet in length, 300 bridges less than ten-feet in length and more than 40,000 traffic signs.

Boder said public works employees are now working 10-hour days on repairs.

“I’ve used the words of one of our superintendents often,” Boder said. “No one needs us when its sunny. We get to work when it’s ugly.”