DULUTH, MN — Ames Construction recently delivered the Twin Ports Interchange Project in Duluth, Minnesota, with joint venture partner Kraemer North America.

The AKJV team joined in the celebration as Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, Duluth Mayor Roger Reinert, and other state and local leaders cut the ribbon on the project.

With blind merges, left exits, and a counterintuitive design, the I-35/I-535/Highway 53 interchange had long frustrated drivers. The interchange serves an average of 80,000 vehicles a day, some of which are oversized/overweight commercial vehicles heading to and from the Port of Duluth-Superior.

In fall 2020, the AKJV team began reconstructing the interchange. Crews demolished existing bridges, replaced the I-35 mainline bridges with ground-improved embankment, and constructed new interchange bridges. The project also performed city street and utility improvements and constructed a new major stream crossing the box culvert under I-35. AKJV rerouted and merged two creeks to run through the culvert and into St. Louis Bay.

Ames Construction is a full-service, heavy civil and industrial general contractor that delivers construction to many markets, including dams, water resources, environmental, industrial, CCR, mining, railroad, transportation, and federal.