Posted: 8/28/07
Two CHS grads involved in I-35W bridge reconstruction project
By Charlie Warner
Argus Editor
Two graduates of Caledonia High School are having a major impact on the I-35W bridge reconstruction project. The two are Jon Chiglo, a 1991 CHS grad and Nick Thompson, a 1988 grad.
Chiglo, the son of Nester and Phyllis Chiglo, of Caledonia, is the project supervisor, while Thompson, the son of Larry and Ann Thompson, of Caledonia, headed a team of Mn/DOT planners that coordinated the paving of the shoulders on Interstate 94 and other state highways in the affected area to relive the traffic pressure produced with the bridge collapse on August 8.
Chiglo has been quoted in several metro dailies, including the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, when he testified before the Minnesota State Legislature following the bridge collapse. He graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1997 with a bachelors of science degree in civil engineering.
Chiglo began working with Mn/DOT in 1997 as a graduate engineer. In 1998 he became the Owatonna Construction Office Manager. As project engineer he was responsible for contract administration and assigned to be the design manager for bridge replacements, grading, paving and maintenance projects.
In 2001 he began working in the District Six Headquarters as the project manager for the Highway 52 reconstruction project. After the letting of ROC 52, Chiglo assumed the role as project coordinator, responsible for management of design and construction activities. In September of 2003 he transferred to the Metro District to become the project manager for the Highway 212 project. In early August, he was assigned as project manager for the new I-35W bridge in Minneapolis.
Thompson received his undergraduate degree from Gustavus Adolphus College in geography and his masters in urban planning in 1996. He has worked on a number of major highway projects, including the Highway 212 project with Chiglo.
"Weíre hoping to have the additional lanes completed on I-94 before the state fair begins," Thompson said during a phone interview on August 15. "When you consider we have to somehow re-route 144,000 vehicles each day, you can understand just what an undertaking the re-routing project is."
Thompson said Mn/DOT planned to work seven days a week to have the additional traffic lanes in place as soon as possible to accommodate the additional traffic during the state fair. The project to construct additional lanes to the major arteries that funnel traffic to and from I-35W bridge area should be completed by the end of September, weather permitting. Once the additional lanes are in place, they will be used until the I-35W bridge reconstruction project is completed.
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