At the beginning of June, two barge derricks arrived at the beach west of Lutsen Resort to work on the Lake Superior- Poplar River Water District pipeline. Roen Salvage of Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin blasted and dug a 4-foot deep trench from the shoreline to 350 feet out into the lake. The water line pipe was placed in the trench and then covered with cement pumped down from the top of the hill to the derricks. A team of divers worked under water, directing and finishing the concrete. Roen Salvage finished the job on June 27.
Lutsen Mountains and several other West End businesses have been anxiously watching the waterline being installed by the Lake Superior-Poplar River Water District. It has been a major undertaking with a few stops and starts along the way. Water District Representative Tom Rider, co-owner of Lutsen Mountains, said on June 28 that the anticipated date of completion for phase one is still September 2016.
Construction started in October/ November 2013 and there were some geographic and hydrologic challenges in burying the 20-inch diameter pipeline 8-10 feet deep for the approximately 2 miles from Lake Superior to the ski hill area. At one point where the pipeline crossed the Poplar River, trenching had to be completed during a period of low water flow. The river was diverted through a snowmaking pond while the pipeline was installed. Other than that, the terrestrial piece of the plan went relatively smoothly.
However, at the end of the water line, at the inlet on the Lake Superior shore west of Lutsen Resort, the installation got extremely complicated. In September 2014, as Marine Tech of Duluth, subcontracted by RJS Construction Group, LLC of Superior, Wisconsin, started to work on the installation, they left a 200-foot-long, 3-foot diameter pipe section on shore, partially in the water. A major storm hit and waves washed the huge pipe into Lake Superior. The pipe floated away and was eventually retrieved in Two Harbors. The pipe was retrieved from Lake Superior and taken by barge to Taconite Harbor, where it waited to be re-installed, along with another section still on shore by Lutsen Resort.
This huge pipe—three feet in diameter—is part of the Lake Superior- Poplar River Water District waterline. It sat above ground for almost a year, but is now in place at the Lake Superior inlet.
Pump house problems resolved
Unfortunately, problems had also been discovered at the pump house that would eventually house the equipment to feed the pipeline—three pumps, 450 horsepower each and two small 50 horsepower pumps. To connect with the large pipe going out into Lake Superior, it was necessary to dig the foundation of the pump house 30 feet into the ground.
In June 2014, cracks were noticed in the foundation and the construction of the pump house was not only halted, it had to start all over with removal of the concrete footings and the building in progress. After months of study it was determined that the best approach for the lakeshore pump house foundation was injection grouting—drilling and injecting grout into the soil.
That work was completed and Rider said it appears to be satisfactory. The plan was to have RJS Construction Group continue to install the inlet water pipe this summer. However, their work to that point was rejected by the Water District engineer and the district cancelled its contract. At press time, Rider said the district seemed to be on course toward a settlement.
Pipeline inlet completed
Rider said the Water District is now the general contractor for the project and it hired Roen Salvage of Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, to complete the pipeline inlet. They began working at the Lutsen site at the beginning of June with two large barges/ derricks, along with a towboat that took it back to Taconite Harbor safe harbor each evening.
Rider said the company “drilled, blasted and dug” a 350-foot trench about 4 feet deep, about 22 feet below the surface of the water. They laid the 3-foot diameter pipe in the trench and ever mindful of the weather waited for the appropriate conditions to pour concrete on top of it. About a million pounds of concrete was poured.
The concrete came from Duluth Ready Mix and it is a mixture designed specifically for underwater projects such as bridge footings. “They do this all the time for bridges in rivers and streams,” explained Rider.
The cement was pumped down from the top of the hill to the two derricks and then pumped from the derricks onto the pipe. A team of divers worked under water, directing and finishing the concrete.
The Roen Salvage crew also installed the huge screen system at the end of the pipeline that prevents fish and other organisms from entering the pipe.
On Tuesday, June 28, Rider happily reported, “They just completed things yesterday and headed out, under power of tugboat.”
Funds for final phase still needed
Phase two of the project is to complete a water treatment plant to provide drinking water to the establishments at Lutsen Mountains, something that has been a perennial problem. There have been times in the past that water had to be brought in by tanker truck for area resorts.
The water treatment plant equipment is in a dedicated space (about 1,000 square feet) inside Caribou Highlands, but there is a shortfall for that phase. Rider said the Water District has enough funds to complete the commercial portions of the project—water will be available for snowmaking, for the Superior National at Lutsen Golf Course and for firefighting needs. However, he said the Water District only has 50 percent of the funds required. He said another $300,000 is needed.
The project has been funded to date by $3.6 million from the 2012 state bonding bill; $1.3 million from project partners; $1.1 million from the state bonding bill in 2014 and an additional $450,000 from this year’s supplemental tax bill, for a total of $6.45 million. “We hoped to have it done for $6 million, including the drinking water piece,” said Rider, “But we had to redesign the inlet because our engineers were concerned that the design wasn’t ‘robust’ enough. That upped the cost by about $400,000, but we felt it was best to follow the recommendation of our engineers.”
Project partners include the Cook County/Grand Marais Economic Development Authority (EDA) and Superior National at Lutsen golf course; Caribou Highlands Lodge; Lutsen Resort on Lake Superior; Mountain Inn; Village at Lutsen Mountain Condominium Association; Eagle Ridge Resort; Papa Charlie’s Restaurant, and several other businesses, with Lutsen Mountains contributing the majority of the $1.3 million.
DNR also waiting for project completion
In November 2011, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) told Lutsen Mountains ski hill that it had to stop drawing water from the Poplar River for snowmaking by October 2016.
Rider said he is fairly confident that the Water District will have the pipeline working by that deadline, but he is working with the DNR on an extension as a contingency plan. “There is still enough construction left that something could still go wrong,” he said.
It looks as if the pipeline is on track to go online in September 2016. Is the start-up as easy as just flipping a switch? Rider said it’s not quite that easy. Once everything is in place there is a lot of testing to be done. The 13,000 feet of pipeline in the ground has already been tested and is functioning properly. But Rider said there are ancillary systems that will have to be tested.
When the switch is thrown, will there be a celebration? Rider laughed, “Yes, we’ll have to do something, won’t we?”
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