GRAND FORKS (AP) - The Army Corps of Engineers is re-caulking some of the seams between concrete flood panels in the Grand Forks dike system after spotting a few cracks.

Corps project manager Bonnie Greenleaf calls it routine maintenance and no reason for alarm.

"The purpose of the caulking is to keep moisture and debris from getting down inside there and messing things up, but it doesn't affect the structural integrity of the wall," Greenleaf said.

"The walls have been through a few freeze-thaw cycles. Some of the caulking material didn't perform like everyone wanted it to. It didn't stretch when it was supposed to," she said.

Repairs are expected to be finished in the next few weeks.

The gaps were discovered during routine inspections. Greenleaf said the corps is paying for the repairs, but eventually the city will assume routine maintenance costs.

The Grand Forks-area flood protection system, built after the 1997 Red River flood disaster, includes 30 miles of levees, two miles of flood walls, 22 pump stations and 10 miles of diversion channels at a cost estimated at more than $400 million. The corps began work on it in 2000.