Update: someone involved with the project reassured me that the Corps did sign off, the problem is the RR is taking their time on approval thru there easement. I have assumed from the beginning that the city would not be dumb enough to proceed without approval. Not sure if they followed plans, but that is a discussion for another day.
I took the above picture in the middle of September on a Saturday morning. I counted 15 construction hard hatted men inspecting what they have built so far.
According to this article;
It will take the next few weeks “to complete everything other than the low-head dam,” said Mike Patten, city parks planning and project manager. The plan is to work on that throughout the winter and into the spring as the city continues to work toward necessary approvals from BNSF Railway to fully complete the project.
This is an interesting ‘excuse’. The city received a $750K donation from Lloyd Companies to construct a picnic area but the city apparently is using some of the funds to create this diversion dam (they are calling it a low head dam, but it is NOT.) Last month the city brought in heavy equipment to build this dam that many local waterway advocates say is ‘troubling and suspicious’ because changing the natural flow of the river should never be an afterthought.
So after building 80% of the structure they suddenly stopped and then the above ‘inspection’ occurred. So why didn’t the city ask for permission from the Fed DOT to construct this before bringing in all the equipment? I don’t know. This is Federal easement land and those permissions also have to have the Federal Government involved, and we know the pace they move.
So the nagging question is, did the city get ANY permission from the Feds before starting this project? I don’t know. But it has all the signs of a ‘ask for forgiveness instead of permission’.
There are also some other interesting things going on, for instance there is a massive culvert that flows out into this area that comes from underneath the Sioux Steel district, and there has been a constant flow of water for over a month, and NO rain. Where is the water coming from? Is there that much seepage from the buildings and the quartzite underneath?
I believe the city had a convo in 2018(?) about this saying they wanted to raise the water levels next to the Steel District project 6 feet which would certainly flood the east bank everytime it rains. It’s fun to have dreams.
Some would say why don’t I just ask the city what is going on, oh I have made many attempts and the answer is always the same;
