U.S. Army Liberates River Grove Park
465 Days after Hurricane Harvey, the U.S. Army has finally liberated River Grove Park in Kingwood. They literally took the beach.
Drainage ditch at River Grove is now open to the San Jacinto River.
Actually, they took the giant sand bar that Harvey deposited one night. It had been blocking the drainage ditch that runs through the park and that caused excessive flooding. The two shots immediately below show what that sand bar looked like before dredging.
Sandbar deposited by Hurricane Harvey at River Grove forced water to make a 90 degree turn before it could reach the river. This slowed the velocity of runoff and backed up water into subdivisions, like the Barrington in the background. While the sandbar looks low from the air it was up to 15 feet high directly in front of the drainage ditch (middle left). See below.
The same dune in the previous image photographed from the boat dock.
Dredge Now Moves Downriver
Dredge is now moving downriver.
Work to Date
Dredge #1 is working alongside the West Lake Houston Parkway bridge. It has dredged approximately 135,000 cubic yards of sand and silt to date, according to the Corps’ project manager.
Dredge #2 is working on the upstream end of the project, still near River Grove. It has dredged approximately 226,000 cubic yards to date. After dredging the access channel to River Grove, surveys showed there were some areas that the dredge could not reach. Great Lakes, the contractor will use a barge-mounted excavator to perform final clean-up work. Updated surveys will then confirm achievement of plan goals.
Dredging plans for River Grove indicate a channel width of 50 feet and a depth of 15 feet near the boat ramp.
For all the people who live upstream from the drainage ditch that runs through River Grove, this is an early Christmas present. It will be interesting to see what happens to flood levels in the park now that the bar blocking the ditch has been removed…just in time for a major fall storm that could drop up to 10″ on the US59 corridor. However, we also need to remember that the City is dropping the level of the Lake by at least 18″.
Posted on December 7, 2018 by Bob Rehak
465 Days since Hurricane Harvey
