Posted on August 22, 2022
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Headquarters, in Washington, D.C., recently named the St. Paul District Fargo-Moorhead Metropolitan Area Flood Risk Management Project Delivery Team as its “USACE 2022 Project Delivery Team of the Year for Excellence.”
The Fargo-Moorhead diversion project is a 30-mile-long diversion channel in North Dakota with upstream staging of flood waters. The plan includes constructing a 20-mile-long southern embankment, 19 highway bridges, three railroad bridges, three gated structures, and two aqueduct structures. It also includes levees and floodwalls in Fargo and Moorhead which safely allows additional flows through the metro area.
The project is being implemented using a public private partnership (P3) with split delivery. This is a first and innovative approach for the Corps of Engineers and is already applying best practices to improve the delivery of other federal projects.
The 16-person team played a vital role in taking the Corps’ first P3 project from concept to reality that is currently on schedule for operation in the spring of 2027.
“I take great pride in the teams’ commitment to innovation and overcoming challenges to accomplish the mission – providing permanent flood risk management to the Fargo-Moorhead region,” said the Corps of Engineers’ Fargo-Moorhead Metro Project Program Manager Terry Williams. “The project is distinctive in numerous ways, ranging from alternative financing to split delivery implementation across multiple states, counties and cities. Not only is it the first P3 civil works project in the Corps of Engineers’ history but it is also the inaugural pilot project for the innovative funding concept.”
The teams’ exemplary service earned praise and notes of thanks from the highest levels in the Corps. “The team’s consistent application of project delivery business processes resulted in achieving the stakeholder’s expectations and the ultimate goal in setting an example of accelerating successful project delivery to the American people,” said U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Mississippi Valley Division Commanding General Maj. Gen. Diana Holland.
The diversion project is one of the top priorities for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
