Kings Harbor Now Harborless After Flood
May 27, 2024 – A sweeping line of sand deposited by the early May 2024 flood has left Kings Harbor harborless. Kings Harbor is one of Kingwood’s most popular destinations for eating out – whether you arrive by car, foot or boat.
The lakefront side of restaurant row is now shut in by sand collecting trash and logs swept downstream. The restaurants there, such as Chimichurri’s, Sharky’s, Raffa’s, and Zammitti’s, serve outstanding food and even more outstanding views. But at the moment, it’s not quite the romantic place for a marriage proposal at sunset. See the pics below.
Dredging Costs Tough on Small Associations
Perhaps dredging companies are offering “buy one, get one free” deals next month.
Seriously, mobilization costs for dredging are so high that it makes sense to spread those costs over as many jobs as possible. By working together, the Kingwood Service Association and Kings Harbor could cut their mobilization costs in half.
Origin of Sand?
During the flood, I clocked the speed of debris floating in the water near this location. It was moving at 5-6 MPH, exactly the same speed as water moving through sand mines upstream on the West Fork. That’s more than enough to transport sand as you can see below from this industry-standard Hjulström curve.
Did all the sand come from West Fork sand mines? No. The speed was also enough to erode riverbanks as you can see above. But the sand mines between US59 and I-45 expose approximately 33 times more sand to erosion.
Yesterday, I posted about the likely source for the sand blocking the Kingwood Diversion Ditch at River Grove Park. The same arguments apply here.
We need sand, but we also need to make sand miners operate more responsibly.
Posted by Bob Rehak on May 27, 2024
2463 Days since Hurricane Harvey
The thoughts expressed in this post represent opinions on matters of public concern and safety. They are protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP Statute of the Great State of Texas.
