North Dakota Building Trades, Community Rally Support for Good Jobs at Diversion Ribbon Cutting

Dozens of North Dakota and Minnesota Union members were among the many community members to show up in support of the groundbreaking ceremony at the future site of the FM Diversion Inlet Structure, just a few miles south of Horace, ND.

The FM Diversion will provide the Fargo-Moorhead area with permanent flood protection at a cost of $2.2 billion dollars. The Inlet Structure will be the first portion of the project to be completed, taking an estimated 3-4 years to complete at a cost of $46 million.

"A project of this scale will employ many members of the building & construction trades years to come. Dozens of members of Carpenters, Cement Masons, Electrical Workers, Laborers, Operating Engineers, and Painters are out here at the ground breaking to show our support for projects that provide good local work that folks like us can raise our families on," North Dakota Building and Construction Trades President Jason Ehlert said.

In addition to the Army Corp of Engineers who organized the event, hundreds of community members we also in attendance. U.S. Senators Hoeven and Heitkamp, Fargo Mayor Mahoney, and Moorhead Mayor Del Rae Williams all spoke in support of the project. U.S. Representative Kevin Cramer was not in attendance, but had a staff representative read remarks.

"The State Building & Construction Trades applaud the Senators Heitkamp and Hoeven and Congressman Cramer for their continued support of this much needed infrastructure project. We also would like to thank the representatives of the FM Diversion Board of Authority for their persistence to making this dream a reality", Ehlert said.

More photos of the event can be found over at the North Dakota Building and Construction Trades page.