Construction on the floodway project began 6 October 1962 and cost $63 million. The project resulted in excavation of approximately 76.5 million cubic metres of earth. Completed in March 1968, it has successfully prevented over $10 billion in flood damages. The flood control system prevented flooding in 1974 and 1979 when water levels neared record levels. However, in the 1997 Red River flood, water threatened the city's relatively unprotected southwest corner. Flood control dikes were reinforced and raised using sandbags and the threat was averted. Winnipeg suffered limited damage compared to cities without flood control structures, such as Grand Forks, North Dakota.