Ceremony marking completion of control structure on Red River Diversion project
HORACE, N.D. (KFGO PRAIRIE PUBLIC BROADCASTING) – A control structure designed to regulate flows of the Red River has been completed near Horace.
The structure is one of three control structures that will regulate the 30-mile diversion channel and help reduce the potential for damaging floods in Fargo-Moorhead. Army Corps of Engineers Major Kyle Volk calls it a major milestone to provide permanent flood protection.
“This structure has a foundation that’s over 10 foot thick, it sits on pile, the pile reaches into the ground 21 miles. We’ve placed over 47,000 cubic yards of concrete on this structure,” said Volk. “It consists of over 12 million pounds of steel. This structure is built for one reason and one purpose only, is to tame the Red River,” said Volk at ceremony marking the milestone.
The moment wasn’t lost on Gov. Kelly Armstrong.
“Not since the opening of the Garrison Dam in 1953, 72 years ago, has a river of this size been intentionally rerouted through a manmade structure in North Dakota.” “What is happening here today is beyond impressive, moving our state’s largest metro area one giant step closer to a really more secure future,” the governor said.
Ames Construction of Burnsville, Minnesota was awarded a $115 million contract to build the control structure. It is one of three major structures associated with the southern embankment of the more than $3 billion diversion.
The diversion is still on schedule to be completed in the spring of 2027.
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