September 27, 2026
FM Area Diversion September Construction Update
FARGO, N.D. (September 25, 2026) – Another component of the massive FM Area Diversion flood-protection project reached completion this month. Reach 1B of the 22-mile southern embankment now connects the Diversion Inlet Structure and adjacent reaches, forming a portion of the earthen levee that will hold back floodwater when the project operates.
Additionally, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers contractors worked on Reach 5, which is on the Minnesota side, by placing a soil-cement mix in lifts to flank the embankment and form its crest. The mix enhances embankment stability, increases erosion resistance and increases protection against overtopping during extreme flood events. At Reach 4, nearly six miles of embankment is now complete as the contractor works on an access road and placing gravel.
The Red River Valley Alliance’s contractor also is working on a maintenance road, constructing one in Reach 3 of the stormwater diversion channel where the channel meets the I-29 corridor. ASN Constructors completed final grading and graveling where the road will traverse under several channel crossings. Finishing touches also were underway this month, including installing right-of-way and security fencing, placing riprap at toe ditches and culverts, and seeding grasses and planting trees along the channel’s slopes. To date, ASN has planted 18,000 trees of the 25,000 planned for the project.
For the channel, 44.2 million of the necessary 45 million cubic yards have been excavated, and only channel plug excavation remains. Placing that much material across a football field would result in a pile nearly 5 miles high.
At the Maple River Aqueduct, where the river will flow over the top of the channel, ASN Constructors completed a maintenance road bridge that spans the spillway and installed a series of conduits and conductors below the spillway to allow for permanent power to the structure. They also began installing metal cladding to enclose the support structure for the aqueduct’s vertical lift gate.
Watch these updates and more in the new drone construction update at https://youtu.be/fgbd7hh6Lm0.
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.