BISMARCK, N.D. – Gov. Doug Burgum today applauded an announcement by U.S. Sen. John Hoeven that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is awarding a nearly $67 million contract to West Fargo-based Industrial Builders Inc. for the Interstate 29 grade raise portion of the Fargo-Moorhead Area Diversion Project.

During a roundtable discussion and press conference with Hoeven, U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, USACE St. Paul District Commander Col. Karl Jansen and local city and county leaders, Burgum also announced that he plans to sign the $680 million bonding bill that passed the North Dakota Legislature on Thursday. The bill includes $435.5 million for the F-M diversion, ensuring that the state will fulfill its $750 million commitment to the project and increasing the state’s total commitment to $870 million for the $2.75 billion project. A bonding bill was a key piece of Burgum’s executive budget proposal for the 2021-23 biennium.

“When this bill gets to my desk, I’m signing it,” Burgum said during a roundtable discussion on the diversion project.

Burgum stressed the project’s vital importance to protecting life, property and the economy of North Dakota and the region from catastrophic flooding. The governor expressed his gratitude for the efforts and collaboration by Hoeven, Klobuchar and the states’ entire congressional delegations, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, former Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton, state legislators, local mayors and county commissioners, the diversity authority, landowners and residents.