L & H Station Development was on a mission to provide a public-private partnership steam plant model while successfully increasing steam production efficiency.  

The new steam plant facility is located on the University of North Dakota campus and replaces the campus’ coal, fuel and gas-fired steam plant. It adds 1.5 miles of below- grade steam and condensate lines and vaults. 

North Dakota winters can be described in one word: frigid. Knowing this and the anticipated groundbreaking in March, we covered the building’s footprint the fall prior with two layers of concrete blankets to reduce frost penetration. Extreme weather conditions followed us throughout the project as Grand Forks received record precipitation, which impacted site mobility. We upgraded the site to crushed concrete instead of grading material to accommodate for the excess water. Completed in 15 months, the plant has the capacity to deliver 300,000 pounds of steam with room to increase capacity by another 60,000 pounds. It now services more than 13 miles of steam and condensate lines to help power the campus and nearby Altru Hospital.