Stadium Construction Gets a Spring Thaw

MINNEAPOLIS, MINN. (Feb. 25, 2015) — The Vikings Stadium is going up steadily despite this winter’s extreme weather conditions.  St. Cloud, Minnesota-based FlexTemp Systems makes it possible — even on the coldest of cold days. FlexTemp Systems manufactures and its affiliated business Winter Construction Specialties sells and rents surface heating equipment used in winter construction for ground thawing and concrete curing. FlexTemp currently has five portable surface-heating units installed at the Vikings Stadium project to keep the ground thawed and ready for work. The Fusion 3000 is specifically engineered for thawing frozen ground as well as warming and curing concrete, even at 30 degrees below zero.

“Generally, you’ll find six feet of frost on the ground in a Minnesota winter— eight feet if it’s brutally cold like it has been this month,” says Chuck Sanvik, FlexTemp Systems. “FlexTemp Systems can thaw one foot of frozen ground per day with our machines, which are similar to home in-floor heating systems — just above ground. We lay a complex network of hoses on the ground, run them full of antifreeze, and cover it all with insulating blankets.”

A similar system is used to cure concrete, allowing work to continue throughout the winter and resulting in more efficient scheduling of construction crews and equipment. Winter Constructions Specialties’ cold-weather concrete curing system handles pre-pour warming, thaws sub grades and cures concrete walls, forms, columns and slabs without the need for expensive and time-consuming heated enclosures.

The company has also been on site, helping winter construction run smoothly for many other projects, including:

• TCF Bank Stadium
• Target Field
• Walker Art Center expansion
• Minneapolis-Saint Paul Airport (tram)
• Target (various locations)

The company operates in Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota and Canada, and plans international expansion in 2015. For more information, visit FlexTemp Systems.