For nearly two decades, Barr has helped the city of New Brighton with the New Brighton Exchange, one of the most ambitious and complex brownfields projects in Minnesota. A former dump, known as Old Miller Dump, occupied about half of the eastern portion of the site. Barr worked with the city on a highly complex design and construction effort that addressed environmental concerns presented by the dump.
In the 1960s, one million cubic yards of debris were placed in a pond and swamp at Old Miller Dump. Barr designed and oversaw excavation of 20 percent of the dump with on-site consolidation and capping of the remainder of it, along with a passive landfill-gas-collection system. The landfill cap and gas-collection system is being periodically monitored by Barr to verify that high levels of methane in the capped dump materials are being dissipated safely without uncontrolled migration to nearby buildings, which were constructed following the dump closure.
The cleanup of the New Brighton Exchange site has been completed, and most of the area is now redeveloped, including five corporate headquarters and a new 25-acre residential development.