FARGO, N.D. — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has awarded its second contract for a Red River diversion project around the flood-prone Fargo and Moorhead metropolitan area.

The Corps announced Thursday that the more than $59 million project to build a flow control structure on the Wild Rice River will be built by Ames Construction Inc., based out of Burnsville.

The concrete structure with two gates would be located about 7 miles south of the Fargo-Moorhead Area.

The first contract, for a control structure closer to the metro area, was awarded to Ames Construction in 2016 for about $46 million. That project was delayed over a lawsuit by upstream residents and changes in order to meet Minnesota permit requirements. Construction resumed earlier this year.

The $2.75 billion diversion is meant to provide flood protection for more than 230,000 people.