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Carstensens Contracting, Inc.

Ihlen

Elkhorn Ridge – Building relationships with landowners

Buffalo Bear – Layers of rock and elevation changes

Jeffers – 20 foundations in 22 days

Odin – Moving tons of equipment over soft soils

Spanish Fork – Protecting the environment

Skyway Industrial Park – New development in Pipestone

Rock Valley – 6 blocks of concrete overlay in 2 1/2 weeks

Ihlen Sanitary Sewer – Installing pipe on a rock shelf

BDM Rural Water – 200 miles of pipe; minimal disruptions

Ihlen Sanitary Sewer

Ihlen, Minnesota

The City of Ihlen is located on a rock shelf in southwestern Minnesota. The city’s sanitary sewer was installed as a force-main grinder pump system. Each home had an outside grinder pump installed and the sewage was force-mained to a mound system on the edge of town.

The biggest challenges came in the areas of geology and Mother Nature. Specifically, the pipes needed to be installed in an area with large,

shelf rock just 2 to 4 feet below the surface – in a region that experiences deep winter freezes. Digging down to the rock, we routed the sewer line around any protruding points and installed pipe and trenching insulation, which has kept it from freezing. To minimize cost and traffic interruptions, a directional drill was used for all road crossings.

Project was completed September 1997.