NORTH DAKOTA STATE UNIVERSITY - FARGO, N D


MASS WASTING IN THE
FARGO-MOORHEAD REGION:

CASE STUDY #3: THE
REGION OF NORTH
BROADWAY AND
TROLLWOOD DRIVE

Just northeast of the Fargo Sewage Treatment Plant, the Red River flows through an especially tight meander. Over the years, erosion and mass wasting along the outside edge of this meander have caused major bank retreat. Unlike the previous two case studies, residential properties are not directly affected (yet) by this slope failure. Nevertheless, large-scale damage has occurred to city-owned streets and infrastructure, and the remains of those buried in a county-owned cemetery had to be excavated and moved to a more distant location.

Aerial view of the meander loop, July, 2000. View is toward the southwest. The yellow arrow points to a large cutbank on outside of the meander. River flow is left to right across the photo. The small patch of land directly beneath the yellow arrow is the former site of a county-owned paupers' cemetery. North Broadway winds to the lower left of the photo, another area of active mass wasting.

(Click on photo for enlargement)

Over the years in a tiny plot of land at the northeast corner of North Broadway and Trollwood Drive, the county had laid to rest the bodies of the hapless, the penniless, the murdered, and the unknown. Some were infants; others may have died during the Spanish influenza siege of 1918. What was thought to have been a permanent place of rest for all was found in this pleasant grove to the east of the county poor farm (now Trollwood Park).

But river bank retreat encroached upon the cemetery, causing displacement of both earth materials and human remains. In 1985, Cass County excavated the remains of over 350 individuals believed to have been buried here and reinterred them in a cemetery closer to the Hector Field.

Displacement by slump in the pauper's cemetery, 1984. Fence line at left of photo used to be even with fence line at right. Impressions of graves of paupers' cemetery are visible in the foreground.

(Click on photo for enlargement)

Excavation of human remains at paupers' cemetery, 1985. New, blue-painted wood coffins are stacked, awaiting the emplacement of skeletal remains.

(Click on photo for enlargement)


Progressive retreat of the river bank forced the closure of Trollwood Drive in September, 1999. The site today remains extremely dynamic.

Trollwood Drive, facing west toward North Broadway (September, 1999). Slump and earthflow (right) had encroached on the street, forcing the closure of Trollwood Drive. The site of the former cemetery lies just beyond the orange fenceline (distant right on photo).

(Click on photo for enlargement)



MOVIE IMAGES (SUMMER, 2000) OF THE CUTBANK
AT TROLLWOOD DRIVE AND NORTH BROADWAY

Large files (~500K). Requires an mpeg viewer.
Click on each image to start movie.


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