Road damage in Dickey County
ELLENDALE, N.D. (KVRR KFGO) – The CEO of Applied Digital says the company is working to address concerns about the destruction of some gravel roads caused by vehicles connected to the construction of an AI data center in Ellendale.
Trucks and equipment are causing severe damage to some county roads and need to be rebuilt. Several county roads and highways are closed until further notice for repairs.
“Applied Digital is aware of concerns about several gravel roads in the vicinity of our Polaris Forge campus, and we have been actively working with county officials to repair and maintain the roads,” according to CEO Wes Cummins.
“Over the last few months, collaborative efforts have been made to provide the County with additional resources to try and keep up with the maintenance of these roads.”
Cummins also says plans have been in the works for over a year to pave the affected roads, which include 87th Ave. and 95th St. He says the paving project will be jointly funded by Applied Digital and the North Dakota Dept. of Transportation.
“They (Applied Digital) made a good deal with the state to get their load limits to get their stuff in and keep working. And then we allowed them to use that road. And they worked hard trying to work with us, and I mean, and you can’t fault them, it’s just the nature of the beast,” said Charlie Russell, Emergency Manager and 911 Coordinator for Dickey County.
Dickey County Commissioner Kasey Holm says in about a month, contractors are going to start doing prep work on the paving project.
Applied Digital also plans to build a $3 billion data center just north of Fargo in Harwood. The company plans to break ground in September on what it calls Polaris Forge 2, a 280-megawatt artificial intelligence computing center.
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