ENG MnDOT has opened new design and oversight work to bidders. The department is seeking a consultant for the preliminary and final design of Highway 61 in Duluth, from Lester River to Superior Street. The scope includes a roundabout, a continuous-T intersection, a railroad crossing, utility coordination, and ADA improvements, with responses due Aug. 25. A second solicitation, due Aug. 20, covers construction oversight of contaminated and regulated materials on the Interstate 494 Design-Build Project 2 corridor, where the work includes new managed lanes, ramp reconstruction, and bridges. Both notices are open to all consultants.
Source: MnDOT professional/technical solicitations
ENG A battery project is up for a state permit decision this week. Cottage Grove Energy Storage, an 80-megawatt battery rated at 320 megawatt-hours in Washington County, is on the Public Utilities Commission’s Aug. 20 agenda for a site-permit decision. The developer, LSP CG Storage, filed the application in June, regulators found it complete on June 25, and scoping ran in July. It is the second standalone-storage project to reach a permit milestone in Minnesota this month, after a Benton County battery near Saint Cloud drew a draft permit in late July.
Source: Minnesota PUC, Energy Infrastructure Permitting (Cottage Grove)
ENG A design argument reframes water as the organizing system for city design. A new ArchDaily essay makes the case for “blue infrastructure,” defines as planning around watersheds, groundwater, floodplains, and seasonal drainage first, then fitting bioswales, permeable surfaces, wetlands, and green roofs to that hydrology rather than treating them as scattered features. The examples run from a Shenzhen park to waterfront projects in Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires, with a common through-line of coordinated hydrology over one-off green amenities. For Minnesota water-resources and site work, it maps onto the watershed-based logic behind MS4 stormwater permitting and cold-climate design, where retention and infiltration have to hold up through freeze-thaw.
Source: ArchDaily, Aug. 17
BIZ A new map sizes up Minnesota’s venture capital base. Twin Cities Business surveyed the state’s independent venture firms and found a market that still trails peer metros like Denver and Salt Lake City. Arthur Ventures leads the local field at $2 billion in assets under management, with Rally Ventures and Vensana Capital tracking toward $1 billion and a cluster of smaller firms near $100 million, drawing on PitchBook data. The count covers independent local funds and sets aside corporate venture arms and national firms with local offices.
Source: Twin Cities Business, Aug. 17
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