US Army Corps of Engineers (Mississippi Valley Division) Dan Renfro Partnering Award

The Phase 2 project encompassed two distinct reaches in East Grand Forks, Minnesota, and a section in Grand Forks, North Dakota, and included the Business Highway 2 and Highway 2 levees; three railroad closures on the BNSF line in Grand Forks and East Grand Forks; protection of the City’s water treatment plant and water reservoir and construction of a floodwall in the residential area known locally as “the Point.” Throughout the project, work often took place at as many as four to six separate locations.

The project was characterized by construction in residential areas, as well as along a major State Highway and in the City’s industrial area and in and around the City’s water treatment plant. Work included construction in geotechnically sensitive areas with concern for soil stabilization and the potential for slippage and slumping along the riverbank. Work included the stabilization and protection of the City’s 1,000,000 gallon water reservoir.

The most challenging aspect of the project was construction of three railroad closures on the BNSF line through the cities of Grand Forks and East Grand Forks. Because of the importance of the line, BNSF would only permit an outage of 24-hours; from the removal of the track and ballast until the next freight train traveled across the newly constructed closures, the Contractor had just 14 hours. In this time, the Contractor was required to construct the three railroad closures simultaneously, and could not backfill the structures until the concrete had reached 70% of its design strength.

The first item of construction initiated by the Contractor was the construction of the 2nd Ave NW road closure. The road closure is just north of the Louis Murray Bridge across the Red Lake River on the only route between the north and south ends of East Grand Forks, which required coordination with residents, the local school district and the police and fire department, since this was the only route for emergency vehicles.

The project included the construction of a road raise on Business Highway 2, the primary route for trucks hauling beets to the American Crystal Sugar Plant in East Grand Forks. Originally, the Contractor intended to construct the road raise in September – October 2003, but revised their schedule upon request from American Crystal Sugar and the City representatives. Rather than disrupt the beet harvest detour the thousands of trucks hauling sugar beets to the plant, the Contractor opted to construct the road raise during the spring. Although this was a less opportune time for the Contractor, they chose to support the community’s largest privately owned business and the local farmers who rely on this harvest.

After award of the project, the Corps’ archeologist received the Cultural Resources Investigation on the borrow site and discovered that contrary to the verbal reports received from the investigators, they had determined that the site designated for “select” impervious fill should be considered culturally significant. The only alternative site was located several miles away and would dramatically increase cost and time. The City, Corps, Contractor and local Catholic Church worked together to find a solution which limited the impact to the project. The soil in one of the abandoned riverside neighborhoods was tested and found to be acceptable. The Contractor borrowed the material, but left the streets in place. After removal of the material, the site was restored by the Catholic Church and now serves as athletic fields for the parochial school and the community as a whole.

The Contractors and subcontractors on East Grand Forks Levees Phase 2 maintained an exceptional safety record. There were in excess of 67,326 manhours on the project with no recordable accidents and 0 frequency rate.