PROJECT
Flooding of the Park River through Grafton has been and continues to be a serious threat to the citizens and infrastructure in Grafton, ND. The location of the city and topography of the land place a large portion of the city within the 100-year floodplain. In 2013, the city experienced back-to-back floods that were only a few inches away from the record flood. The City is well-versed in fighting these floods, but they continue to impact human and financial resources. The Biggert-Waters Insurance Reform Act of 2012 (BW-12 Act) implemented significant changes to the way flood insurance is administered and is causing serious financial hardships to citizens and a major decrease in the growth of the local economy.
SOLUTION
The project’s goal is to remove the City of Grafton from the 100-year floodplain, which requires a team with technical expertise and experience to develop cost-effective solutions for the Park River Flood Control at Grafton project. This project will significantly impact residents and requires strong local leadership.
Several critical issues pose challenges to the project, including agency coordination, public relations, value engineering, and funding. Our team consists of a group dedicated to working with the City to find and develop a project alignment and funding scenarios. Successful project completion will also depend on understanding of the intricacies of US Army Corps of Engineers, FEMA, and North Dakota State Water Commission philosophy and project advancement process. Garnering public support will also be critical. We have facilitated many public meetings and have assisted cities in developing public campaigns to gain project support. With our depth of staff, our specialty team works in conjunction with the technical team to make sure the process moves forward as quickly as possible.
RESULTS
KLJ is providing Grafton with planning and engineering services characterized by aggressive timelines, technical quality, and personal service. We have a team assembled with experience working on flood control projects in the region and are committed for project duration.
KLJ received the 2021 Engineering Excellence Award from the American Council of Engineering Companies of North Dakota (ACEC/ND) for this project.
