Subscribe
GALVESTON, Texas – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Galveston District awarded a contract in the amount of $11,492,530 to Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Company for routine maintenance dredging of the Galveston inner and outer bar, entrance channel and extended entrance channel as well as the Houston Ship Channel between Bolivar Road and Redfish Island.
Dredged material will be placed in Ocean Dredged Material Disposal Site Number One, approximately five miles offshore. Additionally, approximately 725,000 cubic yards of sand material dredged from the Galveston inner and outer bars may be placed beneficially onto the adjacent shoreline of Galveston Beach starting at the 61st Street Pier working westward, as part of a contract option requested by the Galveston Park Board of Trustees and Texas General Land Office.
“The USACE Galveston District is excited to partner with the Galveston Park Board of Trustees and Texas General Land Office in order to carry out a dredging project that will benefit channel users and Galveston residents,” said Tricia Campbell, an operations manager with the USACE Galveston District. “While undertaking its mission of keeping America’s waterways navigable, the Corps is able to turn that into an added benefit for the community by placing dredged material (sand) on the Galveston Beach for tourists and residents to enjoy.”
This beneficial use project allows the Corps to work with a cost-sharing sponsor to place dredged material along the coastline, said Campbell.
According to Campbell, since the Corps must dispose of dredged material in the most cost effective manner, the Texas General Land Office and Galveston Park Board of Trustees will finance the incremental cost for placement of material beneficially along the seawall in lieu of placement in the ocean dredged material disposal site. The cost of this contract option is an additional $8,859,000.
“We are pleased with the federal, state and local collaboration that will result in new beach areas along the island's historic seawall,” said Kelly de Schaun, executive director, Galveston Island Park Board of Trustees. “Beaches are essential for storm surge protection and have been important economic drivers for the tourism industry on the Island. This project is a significant milestone in the implementation of a 50 year sand management plan adopted by the Park Board of Trustees.”
Dredging of the federal channel is expected to begin in early June using a hopper dredge with pump out capability and end by November 2015. Campbell says she expects the beneficial use project at the seawall to begin approximately 60 days after the contractor begins work.
The Galveston Entrance Channel serves as the point of entry for the Galveston, Texas City, and Houston ship channels, which support the ports of Galveston, Texas City, and Houston as well as industries up and down the channels.
The USACE Galveston District was established in 1880 as the first engineer district in Texas to oversee river and harbor improvements. The district is directly responsible for maintaining more than 1,000 miles of channel, including 270 miles of deep draft and 750 miles of shallow draft as well as the Colorado River Locks and Brazos River Floodgates.
For more information, visit the USACE Galveston District website at www.swg.usace.army.mil. Find us on Facebook, www.facebook.com/GalvestonDistrict or follow us on Twitter, www.twitter.com/USACEgalveston.
| Date Taken: | 05.22.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 05.22.2015 10:23 |
| Story ID: | 164249 |
| Location: | GALVESTON, TX, US |
| Web Views: | 118 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, USACE Galveston District awards contract for Galveston, Houston channel dredging, by Isidro Reyna, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
LEAVE A COMMENT