Fargo opts for bigger bag to help stop floodwaters

FARGO, N.D. (AP) — The Fargo area has added another device to its flood-fighting kit: giant sand barriers known as TrapBags.

A machine enables workers operating front-end loaders, excavators or other heavy equipment to quickly fill pentagon-shaped 4- or 6-foot woven polypropylene bags. The bags typically come in 100-foot-long sections that are hung on a guide rail.

The area is using at least seven miles of the big bags to help protect against a third straight major Red River flood.

Fargo is using two other floodwall systems from previous floods: Hesco barriers, which are sand containers, and the AquaFence, a lightweight but durable plywood wall held in place by poles.

Officials say those systems and new clay levees have cut in half the number of sandbags needed, to about 1.7 million.

Tags: news, updates, fargo, flood, sandbags