June 30, 2025
FM Area Diversion June Construction Update
FARGO, ND (June 30, 2025) – More than 80% of the Red River Structure, the largest of three control structures for the FM Area Diversion, has been completed. Soon, the Red River will be rerouted through the structure’s gates. Watch work on the structure and other construction highlights in this month’s drone video at https://youtu.be/DWz49pbwr34?feature=shared.
Authority Administration Building: ASN Constructors began placing concrete foundations for the building that will be the future home for the Metro Flood Diversion Authority staff. It is positioned along the southern embankment to provide line of sight and direct access for operations and maintenance.
City of Moorhead Flood Management Project: The FM Area Diversion would not be able to operate were it not for partnership amongst the cities of Fargo and Moorhead, and the counties of Cass and Clay. Much of the work has been done to allow up to 37 feet of water to flow safely through town before the diversion operates, but additional work is still needed. In North Moorhead, between 43rd Avenue and Wall Street Avenue, Phase 2 of the flood mitigation project is nearing completion. Precast concrete box culvert segments now form the intake and discharge ends of a new gatewell structure where stormwater runoff will discharge to the Red River under normal flow conditions. When the river crests, the gatewell structure will be closed to contain the river safely within its banks and behind the in-town levee system, while interior drainage is maintained via the nearby stormwater pond and lift station.
Crossings: North of Fargo, ASN Constructors finished six spans with nine girders each on the BNSF Hillsboro crossing this month. These were the first precast concrete girders installed on any of the three railroad crossings. Southwest of there, at the I-94 crossing, crews continued work on the pair of bridges spanning the diversion channel. This month, more than 1,000 cubic yards of concrete was placed at both the eastbound and westbound bridge decks.
Red River Structure: Ames Construction, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers contractor, has been installing the gate lifting cables and machinery. Concrete work remains focused on the floodwalls and piers both east and west of the structure, as well as the east half of the structure’s upstream approach apron.
Sheyenne River Aqueduct: ASN Constructors placed concrete for multiple flume piers, wingwall footings and wall segments. Crews are also beginning to assemble shoring towers and decking forming portions of the flume’s slab.
Southern Embankment: The 22-mile southern embankment is being constructed in segments by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers contractors. At the SE-2B reach, box culverts were installed and are getting backfilled where 45th Street will cross over the embankment. North of County Road 16, work resumed excavating the borrow ditch and constructing the full-height embankment. Farther south, crews are dewatering the borrow ditch, placing topsoil, and preparing to complete a permanent connection to the Wild Rice River.
Stormwater Diversion Channel: Near the Maple River Aqueduct and County Road 20, work took place at Reach 6 of the stormwater diversion channel, where to date nearly 80 percent of the necessary 45 million cubic yards of material has now been excavated.
About the Metro Flood Diversion Authority
The MFDA is a permanent North Dakota political subdivision that is cooperatively implementing the Fargo-Moorhead Area Diversion comprehensive project with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The MFDA works in partnership with the Red River Valley Alliance in a public-private partnership as well as the City of Fargo, City of Moorhead, Cass County, Clay County and the Cass County Joint Water Resource District.