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Mankato, Minn. (AP)

Dayton to help honor MnDOT workers killed on job

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Searching for backhoe operator
Rescue workers in an inflatable raft probe around the MnDOT backhoe that fell into swollen Seven Mile Creek along Highway 169 between Mankato and St. Peter, Minn. on Tuesday, March 22, 2011. Mike Struck, who was operating the backhoe, was found dead the next day.
AP Photo/The Mankato Free Press, John Cross

Minnesota Department of Transportation employees are memorializing agency workers killed on the job in the last 50 years.

The agency is observing a Workers Memorial Day in ceremonies in St. Paul, Rochester and Mankato on Thursday. In all, 46 workers have died while working on MnDOT construction and maintenance projects since 1960.

Gov. Mark Dayton and Transportation Commissioner Tom Sorel will speak at the Mankato event, which is at noon at the agency's headquarters in that city. That was the home base of MnDOT employee Mike Struck, who was killed on March 22 when the backhoe he was using to clear debris along Highway 169 was pulled into floodwaters.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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Searching for backhoe operator
Rescue workers in an inflatable raft probe around the MnDOT backhoe that fell into swollen Seven Mile Creek along Highway 169 between Mankato and St. Peter, Minn. on Tuesday, March 22, 2011. Mike Struck, who was operating the backhoe, was found dead the next day.
AP Photo/The Mankato Free Press, John Cross