FM Area Diversion June Construction Update

Tom Fuchs: [00:00:00] More than two dozen FM Area Diversion project sites are under construction right now. I’m Tom Fuchs, senior construction manager for the Metro Flood Diversion Authority, with some of those construction highlights.

[00:00:09] ASN Constructors has now started portions of work at all of the 19 road and railroad crossings that will span the stormwater diversion channel. This month, pre-cast concrete girders are being installed at the County Road 20 crossing north and west of the FM Metro. More than 500 girders will be necessary to complete all bridges and crossings constructed as part of the stormwater diversion channel.

[00:00:43] Travelers on I-94 west of the metro area have noticed ramp and lane closures recently as ASN constructs bypasses. These were paved this month and traffic is now routed on the bypasses. Work continues in the area as the remaining lanes will be tied in and mainline reconstruction commences.

[00:00:58] North and west of Harwood, North Dakota, trains have also begun running on the completed bypass, called a shoefly. After the existing ballast and track are removed, ASN will begin to excavate and drive piles for the new crossing at the site. Nearby at I-29, where traffic was bypassed last year, we can see bridge substructure work now well underway for the new crossings in both the north and southbound directions.

[00:01:32] Work can also be observed on reach 13 of the stormwater diversion channel. It is one of nine reaches currently under construction for the 30-mile channel. The many rainy days in recent weeks slowed excavation of the clay soil, but ASN still moved about 400,000 cubic yards of material in the past month, bringing them close to 21 million cubic yards that have been excavated so far.

[00:01:54] Things are taking shape at the Maple River Aqueduct as well. ASN is continuing to place concrete for the pier and abutment walls and the adjacent wing wall footings. We can also see falsework, a temporary structure, in place for the first segments of the aqueduct flume. Once completed, the Maple River will flow across the aqueduct flume as the diversion channel flows in the conduits below it.

[00:02:26] As we move south of the metro area, we can see work being done by the US Army Corps of Engineers on the 22-mile southern embankment. Work recently began on reach SE 2B, which lies near the Wild Rice River Structure. R.J. Zavoral and Sons, the Corps of Engineers contractor there, is beginning to strip topsoil, excavate, and backfill the inspection trench. It is also preparing to construct the initial portions of the embankment spanning from County Road 16 south to the tie-in to the Wild Rice River Structure.

[00:03:06] Earthwork also is just beginning on a ring levee that will protect the Oxbow-Hickson-Bakke community. Close to 1.5 million cubic yards will be excavated and placed to construct the remaining 2 miles of ring levee system north and west of County Road 81. Those are highlights of just some of the many components under construction this summer.