Construction Status of FM Area Diversion

Tom Folks: The 15th and 16th of 19 bridges over the stormwater diversion channel opened to traffic this month. I’m Tom Folks, senior construction manager for the Metro Flood Diversion Authority with that and other updates.

ASN constructors opened the County Road 22 crossing on March 5th. Afterward, work continued nearby removing the bypass lanes and excavating the diversion channel plug below. Just west of the FM Metro and north of I-94, BNSF crews completed track and ballast work as well as mainline track tie-ins for westbound rail traffic at the KO crossing. Westbound trains were permanently rerouted over the completed channel crossing on March 18th.

Additionally, ASN constructors completed the last concrete placement for the 19 channel crossings. With the concrete railings now placed, the 52nd Avenue West Bridge is one step closer to opening this year along with County Roads 6 and 14.

Moving to the Maple River Aqueduct, we see that ASN constructors assembled and installed the horizontal truss segment of the aqueduct’s vertical lift gate support structure. Much like the control structure gates at the southern embankment, the aqueduct vertical lift gates will be operated to regulate flow into the FM Metro if needed during extreme flood conditions.

Progress also continued on the spillway. ASN constructors installed bridge girders for the maintenance road that spans the spillway where they also continued concrete work on the spillway’s side walls. A new compressor building now sits near the spillway as well.

As part of the overall FM area diversion project, dozens of utility lines have been relocated to make way for the 30-mile storm water diversion channel. This month, Western Area Power Administration crews disassembled existing towers, installed new poles straddling the channel, and raised a 230-kilovolt transmission line in Reach 11, just west of West Fargo.

Finally, our tour ends in reach 10 of the storm water diversion channel. While excavation continued, it slowed due to the warming weather that’s made the clay-like material difficult to work with. As part of that work, however, yet another diversion channel plug was removed at 21st Avenue West. For more updates, follow the project on social media.