Noah’s Ark

April 1997 a historic moment has seared itself into the memories of many North Dakotans and Minnesotans. The Red River poured into Grand Forks and East Grand Forks displacing 60,000 people. Almost every home in East Grand Forks and most homes in Grand Forks had flood damage. Thousands of volunteers came to Grand Forks and East Grand Forks to help clean up and rebuild, while many others donated money and supplies.

The “Noah’s Ark” building was funded with a grant from the Economic Development Administration subsequent to the flood of 1997 for the purpose of providing temporary space to businesses that were displaced from the flood. Located in the Grand Forks Industrial Park, the Noah’s Ark building is a 168,000 square foot office/industrial building.

GR served as the prime contractor to the electrical, HVAC, and plumbing subs as well as installing the roof system. It was a challenge keeping all the subcontractors to working together and on schedule, especially due to the flurry of construction activity in Grand Forks.

Work began on Noah’s Ark in October of 1997 and the main portion of the roof was completed just before Christmas. Total labor hours to install the roof exceeded 3,000. The roof system chosen for this project was a ballasted EPDM roof with a ten year warranty, installed over pre-cast concrete deck. The main roof was 700’ x 208’, larger than 2 football fields. Two layers of 4 1/8” EPS insulation were used with tapered EPS crickets. It took thirty semi-truck loads to deliver the insulation alone. Due to the size of the project, 30 x 100 foot rolls of EPDM from Firestone Building products were used which made the project go quickly. About 850 tons of gravel ballast was installed to keep the roof in place.

Noah’s Ark was a big project, and thanks to the efforts of GR workers, a very successful one.

Dakota Square
Noah's Ark
Ladish Malting Company