This is a dike.

Off to this side of the dike there is a golf course, which the dike is meant to protect.

Located on this side is a walking path, a road, and of course, the Red River.

As it turns out this dike is probably more trouble than it is worth, there are several reasons for this.

• The shear weight of the dike is constantly pushing down the soft sediments upon which it was built. This causes the road below to need reconstruction on a yearly basis.
• The dike, in an effort to prevent the flooding of the golf course, ends up forcing the flood water to push it's way into the surrounding neighborhoods.
• As shown in the terrible flood of 1997 the dike isn't actually high enough to provide thorough protection.

This is what is referred to as mass wasting. An engineering solution that ends up being more of a problem than it is worth. This dike can be an example to cities everywhere in that they must consider geological thinking into their building plans.

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