Business & Tech

Bituminous Roadways Plans 1,600 Square Foot Expansion to Inver Grove Heights Asphalt Plant

The expansion will allow the company to add one full-time position at its operation in Inver Grove.

Mendota Heights-based asphalt manufacturer Bituminous Roadways, Inc. is planning a 1,600 square foot expansion to its asphalt plant operation in Inver Grove Heights, company President Kent Peterson confirmed on Tuesday.

The proposed expansion, a storage facility, will allow the company to expand its operations at the plant and add a single, full-time position at the facility, which already employs five.

Bituminous, which opened its Inver Grove asphalt plant in 1979, also operates a gravel pit on the 200-acre site, located along Rich Valley Boulevard. Constructing a storage facility on the site, Peterson said, will allow the company to begin blending polymer into the asphalt it produces at the plant.

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Polymer boosts asphalt's resistance to extreme temperatures, Peterson said, effectively extended the life of a paved surface and reducing the chance that the pavement will crack or rut in cold temperatures. In previous years, the company purchased liquid asphalt blended with polymer from Flint Hills Resources, which runs a refinery south of Inver Grove Heights.

“We’re hoping for some cost saving out of it; we know that there's some improved performance for our asphalt by adding polymer,” Peterson said.

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The company hopes to complete the expansion by June 2011, but before it can begin construction, Bituminous Roadways' planned expansion must receive the blessing of the Inver Grove Heights City Council, which is expected to vote to approve a conditional use permit for the site at its April 25 meeting.

On Tuesday night, the Inver Grove Heights Planning Commission held a public hearing on the proposed expansion, before voting unanimously to recommend approval of the permit, Inver Grove Heights Community Development Director Tom Link said.

While the impact to the city's tax base for the addition will be "minor," Link said, the director believes the expansion is a positive development for the city and its business community.

"Businesses always like to hear that someone is expanding or adding another product, and I think they’re typically happy to hear that the city is working with businesses and allowing them to grow," Link said.


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