Metro flood project nears major milestone as inlet control structure approaches completion
Major diversion project features, including the inlet structure and Wild Rice River control structure, are in the final construction stages.
Work on the mammoth metro flood-control project here is approaching a major milestone as crews are putting the finishing touches on the inlet structure that will regulate the flow of floodwater into the diversion channel.
The inlet structure is 97% complete and is expected to be finished by November. Officials plan to gather Oct. 27 for a ceremonial handoff of the structure from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to the Metro Flood Diversion Authority.
“It’s pretty much complete,” Joel Paulsen, the Diversion Authority’s executive director, told board members on Thursday, Sept. 28. “They’re still waiting on one gear box,” and some other minor details, to complete the $46 million inlet, located near the junction of Cass County roads 16 and 17 south of Horace.
“Very exciting time to see that project wrap up,” Paulsen said.
Terry Williams, an engineer and project manager for the Corps, said, “only a few punch list items remain” to finish the inlet structure.
Close behind, work also is in the final stages for the Wild Rice River control structure, also located near Horace, which is 91% complete and expected to be completed later in November, once work on the structure’s bridge deck and adjoining embankment are finished, Williams told the Diversion Authority board.
Work to raise a 4-mile section of Interstate 94 between exits for Cass County roads 16 and 18 also is well along at 84% complete, and is expected to be finished in early December.
“Traffic should be completely switched (from bypasses) to all four lanes by 1 November,” Williams said.
That section of interstate, located in an area where flood waters will temporarily pool when the diversion operates, is being elevated above the 500-year floodplain.
Work also is progressing on the Red River control structure, the largest of three gated control structures within a 22-mile earthen embankment that will hold back the flood water to control releases into the channel and Red River as it flows through Fargo-Moorhead.
Crews are driving 48,000 linear feet of steel piles and pouring concrete for the Red River control structure, which was the last of the three control structures to start construction and is scheduled for completion in March 2026.
The Red River control structure is 30% complete, with Ames Construction “making great progress,” Williams said.
Meanwhile, work also progresses on building the 30-mile diversion channel, which will run from the inlet near Horace to an outlet across the Red River from Georgetown, Minnesota.
Construction activity by ASN Constructors, the building arm of the Red River Valley Alliance, a consortium of companies building the channel and associated structures, soon will advance south to extend to I-94.
Six miles of the channel are completed or have had work to some degree, Paulsen said. Work on the channel started 1 1/2 years ago.
“Given the size of the project and all the complexity, it’s absolutely wonderful to see things coming together on schedule without any major construction issues,” he said.
The components directed by the Corps — including the embankment and three control structures — all are on schedule and under budget, Paulsen said.
Construction on the channel and associated structures, which the Red River Valley Alliance is doing in partnership with the Diversion Authority, also is tracking on budget, he said.
“As of today we don’t see any pressure on our financial plan at all,” Paulsen said on Friday, Sept. 29.
Work also is starting on road crossings spanning the channel, including 38th Street South and 52nd Avenue South.
ASN Constructors was delayed by the spring flood but continues to catch up and officials have said construction is on track to complete the $3.2 billion project in time to protect against flooding beginning in the spring of 2027, as scheduled.
“We’re seeing they’re recovering their schedule and making up for that delay,” he said, noting that flooding hit the Argusville-Harwood area where much of the channel work has been concentrated.
In August, ASN excavated more than 500,000 cubic yards of earth more than expected, removing a record 2 million cubic yards, Paulsen said.
Work on the channel will continue through winter.
Land acquisition for the project also continues to progress.
So far, land has been secured for 92% of the construction footprint, which includes the diversion channel, embankment and three control structures, with 99.5% of land acquired for the channel, Jodi Smith, the Diversion Authority’s director of lands and compliance said.
Almost 44% of flowage easements have been obtained for the upstream mitigation area, where water will be pooled during diversion operations south of Fargo-Moorhead, she said.
Story originally appeared in The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead on October 2, 2023.
Written by Patrick Springer
