Hibbing Taconite Co. Rail Design & Rehabilitation Hibbing/Keewatin, Minnesota

Project Description: Hibbing Taconite Company (HTC) is the second-largest taconite pellet producer in the United States, with an annual production capacity of eight million tons. The taconite plant, located in Hibbing, is owned by Bethlehem Steel, Stelco, and CCI. North Shore Track Services, an affiliation of Krech Ojard's, performs all monthly track inspections, track maintenance, and track engineering for the plant, under a long-term contract.

Krech Ojard & Associates, in conjunction with NSTS, designed and built a new “weigh-in-motion” track scale at the taconite load-out facility. The new track scale increased accuracy and reduced load-out times, substantially decreasing shipping costs.

This project required construction of 900 feet of by-pass (“Shoe-Fly”). Track construction activities were coordinated to avoid disrupting previously scheduled taconite shipments. Construction of a full-depth timber crossing for heavy-haul mining tracks was also included.

Hibtac has been a client of Krech Ojard since 1996.