Dike construction delayed by moisture

It's Trucker Thomas Bird's second day on the job.

“We need to get the dirt moved.”

His first flood fight and he's already running into trouble.

“I've gotten stuck three times so far.”

This is one of those times. His truck, weighing about 60 thousand pounds, isn't moving. The tires are spinning in several feet of wet dirt.

“With all the weight of clay in these trucks in those soft spots, we just sink in and can't move.”

“Frost is starting to come out of the ground as temperatures come up.”

The problem is the worst in Timberline and South Acres.

“-The soft ground is hampering that operation. It's not quite as productive as a normal cycle on pavement services.”

The city has had to call in backup. All terrain vehicles, with wider tires, float across the muddy mess.

“It's not frustrating because we knew what we were getting into.”

Workers first load more than 15 thousand yards of clay from a borrow pit. That clay is 40 percent moisture. Once on scene, they wait.

“There's so much traffic here.”

Wait for trucks to unload the clay. The special vehicles then have to load it all over again and haul to the levee site, hundreds of feet away, meaning double the work and double the time for flood fighters.

“You just do what you can do.”

A time consuming problem for the city as it rushes to build protection and a headache for these truckers, needing a push.

“We don't have time to grab chains.”

It’s even worse for the homeowners who live nearby. The city hopes the work will be done tomorrow.

Tags: reporter stories, travis skonseng, flood, fargo, construction, news