December 18, 2024
MFDA Releases Year-End Updates
Enough dirt moved this year to fill the Fargodome 13 times, and enough drone survey data collected to make the equivalent of a 153-year music playlist
FARGO, ND (December 18, 2024) – Sixty-eight individual components of the FM Area Diversion were worked on in 2024. That’s just one highlight of the year that saw more visible construction progress than ever before on flood protection infrastructure for the Fargo-Moorhead metro area.
The Metro Flood Diversion Authority and some of its key partners looked back on what was accomplished this year in a new video.
Transcript: 2024 Year in Review
Click to expand transcript
Shelly Carlson (Mayor of Moorhead, 2024 MFDA Chair): [00:00:17] Hi, I’m Shelly Carlson, the mayor of Moorhead and 2024 chair of the Metro Flood Diversion Authority board. I had the honor and privilege of serving in this role three years ago when we were awarded the remaining federal dollars that were needed to complete the project. With that part done, construction started moving forward. This past year, more visible progress on the FM Area Diversion was made than ever before.
Chris Bigaard (MFDA Director of Engineering): [00:00:58] Good to see you again, Major Voege, and congratulations on your recent promotion. As we’re wrapping up our big construction year of 2024, noticing that there’s been great progress on the Diversion Inlet Structure, Wild Rice Structure looks like they’re nearing completion… also lots of progress on the Red River Structure. Could you give us a quick recap of how construction’s gone on those three big structures this past year?
Major Kyle Voege (USACE Resident Engineer): [00:01:21] Yep, the Diversion Inlet and the Wild Rice are nearly complete; we’ll be wrapping those up in the spring. The Red River Structure we just hit 70% complete. We’ve already placed 42,000 cubic yards of concrete, which is more concrete than the other two structures combined. We’ve placed this year 850,000 cubic yards of embankment.
Major Kyle Voege: [00:02:16] Within our program here, we have two more embankment projects that are out for bid right now. Red River Structure, we should be diverting the Red River through the structure come July-August time frame. We’ll also be placing bridge decks… we have 16 miles of pile driven out of the 21, so the last portion of piles will be driven into the ground under the Red River Structure.
Shelly Carlson: [00:03:09] In addition to the great work done by the Corps and its contractors, our P3 developer, the Red River Valley Alliance, also has been busy building their portions. ASN Constructors, which is RRVA’s construction arm, worked on more than two dozen components of the diversion this year.
Tom Fuchs (MFDA Senior Construction Manager): [00:03:31] Thanks for joining me today, Katrina. Tell us a little bit—2024 was a big year obviously. We saw all 19 channel crossings under construction at different stages. Tell us a little bit about how ASN Constructors was up to that task.
Katrina Nibourg (Channel Manager, ASN Constructors): [00:03:52] Yeah absolutely. 2024 was a great year for the project. We’re currently working the entire 30 miles all the way from reach 1 to reach 14, doing channel construction, bridge construction, roads, aqueducts, utilities, all that work altogether.
Katrina Nibourg: [00:04:42] The aqueducts are some of the coolest parts of this project. The Maple is well underway with lots of concrete work being done this summer. As we get more into 2025, we’ll finish the aqueducts and then we’ll have to plug the existing river, divert it into the aqueduct, and then go on with the challenge of having to dig the channel through the old river.
Shelly Carlson: [00:05:55] There’s a lot more work happening on the diversion beyond the major construction. Our Land Management team has worked to acquire properties and develop mitigation programs.
Madeline Dahl (MFDA Land Specialist): [00:06:11] Good morning, Jody. We have had such a busy 2024 in Land Management. Can you give us a little bit of a glimpse of what we’ve been doing the last year?
Jody Smith (MFDA Director of Lands and Compliance): [00:06:19] You know we’ve been really busy acquiring all the necessary property rights to operate the project. So this year alone, we’ll close on almost 120 parcels, which takes a significant amount of work. For every tree that we have to cut down, we have to go back in and plant trees… this past year alone we’ve been working to either plant or get the sites ready to plant in 2025 on over 300 acres.
Tony Grindberg (Cass County Commissioner, MFDA Board 2024 Vice-Chairman): [00:07:52] It’s been great watching this year’s progress. Mayor Carlson provided capable leadership this year, and our engineers, designers, environmental experts, laborers, heavy equipment operators, and many more have made all the progress we’ve just seen. I’m looking forward to leading the MFDA Board in 2025, when we’ll be focused on pushing some of the components to the finish line, securing the last bit of funding that we need, and preparing for operations and maintenance on the completed components.
[00:08:26] Thanks to our many partners for all they’ve accomplished and thanks to our communities for making this work toward permanent, reliable flood protection possible.
Shelly Carlson (Mayor of Moorhead, 2024 MFDA Chair): [00:00:17] Hi, I’m Shelly Carlson, the mayor of Moorhead and 2024 chair of the Metro Flood Diversion Authority board. I had the honor and privilege of serving in this role three years ago when we were awarded the remaining federal dollars that were needed to complete the project. With that part done, construction started moving forward. This past year, more visible progress on the FM Area Diversion was made than ever before.
“It’s been an honor and privilege to lead the MFDA Board again this year,” said 2024 MFDA Board Chairwoman Mayor Shelly Carlson, who also chaired the Board in 2021. “It’s absolutely incredible to see all the progress that’s been made, and it’s exciting to witness history in the making as we move closer each day to permanent, rather than temporary, flood-control measures.”
The public-private partnership developer on the project, the Red River Valley Alliance, saw its design and construction arm, ASN Constructors, complete significant construction. The group excavated roughly 28 million cubic yards of material, which would be enough to fill the Fargodome 13 times.
ASN also drove 24 miles of piling and placed more than 23,000 cubic yards of concrete to support structures along the 30-mile stormwater diversion channel. Completing all that work involved logging more than 316,000 machinery hours and collecting more than 80 terabytes of drone survey data. For context, that would be equivalent to making a music playlist that’s more than 153 years long.
Another key partner in building permanent, reliable flood protection is the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers St. Paul District. Their contractors placed roughly 42,000 cubic yards of concrete at the Red River Structure this year. While RRS, the largest of the three structures, is at 70% completion, the amount of concrete used already exceeds that of the other two structures – the Wild Rice River Structure and Diversion Inlet Structure – combined. They also drove 16 miles of piling to anchor the structure this year, with another five miles needing to be driven next year. Later next summer, the Red River will be rerouted to flow through the structure, which is a highly anticipated milestone for the project.
Corps contractors also worked on reaches of the southern embankment and the Oxbow-Hickson-Bakke Levee. About 850,000 cubic yards were excavated on these earthen embankments in 2024.
Additionally, a Corps contractor placed 800 boulders to form a rock rapids in place of the outdated Drayton Dam. This allows for uninterrupted fish passage along the entire length of the Red River of the North within the United States.
The Cities of Fargo and Moorhead as well as Cass County and Clay County have been important partners in ensuring future flood protection, as well. Much of the city work has been completed, but this year still saw construction on six stormwater lift stations.
“It’s been great watching the progress made this year by everyone from heavy equipment operators to engineers,” said Cass County Commissioner Tony Grindberg, MFDA Board 2024 vice-chairman. “I’m proud to have taken the lead on crafting legislation to fund the project as a state senator in 2013. Now, just over a decade later, things have come full circle for me. I’m looking forward to leading the MFDA Board in 2025, when we’ll be focused on pushing some components to the finish line and preparing for operations and maintenance on completed components.”
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. More information is available at www.FMDiversion.gov.