Rain helps clean

Jul 27, 2023

Aug 6, 2023

A payloader dumps sand into one of the four dump trucks as they remove sand from Minnesota Street Sunday. Ground Zero Services started at 7:15 a.m. and had the street reopened by 12:30 p.m.

NEW ULM– After the games ended and the fun was over, there was one last job to do.

Ground Zero Services hauled away 600 tons of sand from Minnesota Street starting at 7:15 a.m. Sunday morning. The crew consisted of eight people and used two skid loaders, one pay loader, four dump trucks, and two street sweepers to return the street to its original state.

Ground Zero’s owner Jason Kuester detailed the process of removing the sand from beginning to end.

“We removed some of the erosion control to get into the street,” he said. “We piled the sand from the sides into the center with the skid loader so the pay loader could dump it onto the trucks. As we moved down the street we removed the rest of the erosion control as we were removing sand. We finished off by sweeping the street clean and loading the rest of the sand onto the dump trucks. Overall it went very smooth and there weren’t any issues. We took a few notes for when we do it next year.”

Kuester said all of the sand used for the event will be repurposed for future projects, including backfill projects on house basements or sewer water digs. Of the 38 bio rolls that contained the sand for the event, 30 of them will be reused for further projects as well. The rest sustained damage and will be recycled.

Photo by Jason Kuester: A truck carries the bio rolls away as Ground Zero Services leaves Minnesota Street devoid of sand. Jason Kuester said the rain helped sand removal efforts.

New Ulm received a much needed influx of rain while the sand was being carried away. Not only is the news good for temperatures and area farmers, it was a big help for sand removal.

“It didn’t hurt at all,” Kuester said. “It made it so there wasn’t any dust left over [to sweep] and it helped [overall that] the street was damp.”

Kuester said the removal went according to plan and traffic was restored by 12:30 p.m. He believes the event was a success, and hopes he can come back and do it all again next year.

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