By Mike Kaszuba
When the Interstate 35W bridge collapsed three years ago, Don Flemming, the state's former bridge engineer, had been working for URS Inc., the consulting company hired by the state to study the bridge.
Flemming had been replaced as the state's bridge engineer by Dan Dorgan, who held the job until June. Now Dorgan has left to take a job with a company that also has contracts with his old employer, the Minnesota Department of Transportation. Dorgan said he is working part-time for HDR Engineering Inc., which MnDOT said has 13 active state contracts. But in an interview earlier this week, Dorgan said he is not working on any contracts that HDR Engineering has with MnDOT. "I'm more working on national issues," said Dorgan. The company's work for MnDOT does however include several bridge projects, including $199,918 for a statewide bridge rating load posting analysis, a $443,000 contract for preliminary and final design of a bridge and a $388,847 contract to rehab and repair a bridge. HDR Engineering's contracts also include work in the Twin Cities metro area on Interstate 694, the Crosstown Commons project and the Rice Street project at Interstate 35E.
