Location: Minot, North Dakota
Client: City of Minot
Background
The catastrophic Mouse (Souris) River flood event of 2011 caused historic damage to property and infrastructure in the City of Minot. An inundated well field plus flood water intrusion into the WTP clearwell forced the North Dakota Department of Health to issue a boil order for the City’s water supply as a health precaution during the flood.
While the necessity of the boil order was debated at the time, it served an underlying purpose beyond waterborne pathogen protection—reducing water use from the system. It is apparent that many people to this day don’t know how close the City was to evacuation during the 2011 flood.
The aftermath of the flood revealed damage to the vast majority of the City of Minot’s water supply wells that penetrate the Sundre and Minot aquifers, and the Minot Water Treatment Plant (WTP) needed permanent flood protection to prevent contamination.
The Project
The Minot Water Treatment Plant Hazard Mitigation Grant Program project's intent was to protect this critical infrastructure from future flood events. The combination of levees and floodwalls, plus incorporating ultraviolet light as an additional treatment process, ensured that should the well fields become inundated again the Minot WTP can treat Mouse River water to a level that will meet Safe Drinking Water Standards and avoid system contamination.
The project consisted of more than 6,000 cubic yards of cast-in-place concrete in various components of the flood mitigation effort around the WTP. The plant is in one of the lowest areas of the community on the banks of the Mouse River which flows through the middle of the community.
Further, improvements incorporated under this project to the Minot stormwater collection system enabled reducing overland flow into the protected area resulting in a more cost-effective solution for the City. Supporting this critical project for the City of Minot and the NAWS region while providing sustainable fiscally effective solutions was the goal of HEI and our partners Stantec and PCI; we are proud to have served the City of Minot and the region in accomplishing that goal.
The project was completed and celebrated with a
ribbon-cutting ceremony in August 2017.
Award-Winning Design
The North Dakota Ready Mix and Concrete Products Association recognized this project with the
Gold Star Award in January 2018. This award recognizes projects across North Dakota for their excellence in concrete planning, execution, and construction.