Work slows on St. Croix bridge after ironworkers walk out

Crews moved a piece into place.
Crews moved a piece into place on one of the St. Croix Crossing bridge piers in Oak Park Heights, Minn., Tuesday, March 17, 2015.
Jeffrey Thompson | MPR News file

Contractors working on the St. Croix Crossing bridge project are scrambling to find replacements for more than 100 iron workers who left the site last Friday.

The members of Iron Workers Union Local 512 work for subcontractor J & L Steel of Hudson, Wis., which is in a dispute with project contractor Lunda/Ames Joint Venture.

Minnesota Department of Transportation project manager Michael Beer said the workers "packed up their tools and began leaving the project saying they would not be back to work."

Beer said Lunda/Ames brought in 12 to 14 union iron workers, mostly foremen and superintendents. He said more are expected through the week.

Despite the slowdown, Beer anticipates no "major impact on the schedule at this time. It looks like it will just be a bump in the road and we'll be able to make up time over the next year of construction."

By summer, contractors expect to begin moving precast segments of the bridge into position near the piers already visible in the St. Croix River between Oak Park Heights on the Minnesota side and St. Joseph, Wis.

Officials with J & L Steel, Lunda/Ames Joint Venture and the Iron Workers Union Local 512 could not be reached for comment.

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