December 2019. Pipelines exposed by erosion at LMI River Road Mine.
Readers filed complaints with the Mine Safety Administration. And soon, contractors started working on “a fix” for the problem, which had lingered for years. Repairs began in January. Then, in March 2020, I wrote about about completion of the repairs.
March 2020. Repairs included the installation of two culverts under pipelines and a concrete swale on top of the culverts.
The Warning Two Years Ago
But after looking at all the sediment spewing from the culverts, I warned that “one has to worry about them becoming clogged with sand and silt.” Below, see what the area below outfall looked like at the time.
At the time I captioned this image with “A big issue in the future may be sediment clogging the culverts.“
Today, Culverts Almost Totally Blocked
Today, the culverts look like this (see below). I took the images below on 7/22/22.
Culverts’ intakes almost totally blocked by sediment. Mine has not maintained them. Water flows from part of the mine on the left to another part on right.
Below, see how the culvert outfalls have also become clogged.
Outfall on West Fork side of culverts.Wider shot. Note how more erosion is beginning on either side of the concrete repairs.
Repeat of Headward Erosion
The shot above illustrates the same type of headward erosion that started causing the safety problem in 2014.
Satellite image of same area from April 2014
Is There A Long-Term Fix?
Short of maintaining one’s property to protect public safety, I’m not sure what the long-term solution is. In my opinion, the first obligation of these mines should be public safety. But that often seems like an afterthought.
Neighbors tell me that this mine no longer operates every day. Perhaps the owner, Liberty Materials Inc., is experiencing reduced demand for its product due to economic conditions.
Regardless of the reason, this problem illustrates the need for the TCEQ to stiffen abandonment procedures for sand mines. The thought of those pipelines rupturing highly volatile liquids during a future flood scares me. It should scare anyone who lives along the San Jacinto. What will happen when LMI is no longer here to maintain those culverts?
Posted by Bob Rehak on 8/1/2022
1798 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.
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/20220722-RJR_0226.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=18001200adminadmin2022-08-01 17:36:232022-08-01 17:57:24Pipeline Repairs at LMI River Road Mine Need More Repair
The pace of excavation and removal of up to 500,000 cubic yards of soil from Woodridge Village has slowed slightly in recent months. That may be due to rising interest rates, which have slowed housing starts. Contractors use excavated dirt to elevate homesites in new developments. But the Census Bureau says housing starts in June 2022 fell 6.3% below the June 2021 rate.
Woodridge Village Background
Woodridge Village was the failed 670-acre Perry Homes development that twice contributed to flooding hundreds of homes in Kingwood’s Elm Grove and North Kingwood Forest Villages in 2019. Harris County and the City of Houston bought the property in 2021 to help reduce flood risk. They plan to do this by building another detention basin.
Perry left the site about 40% short of the floodwater detention capacity needed to meet current Atlas-14 requirements. Since then, Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) entered into an “Excavation and Removal” contract (E&R) with Sprint Sand and Clay to begin removing additional soil. The goal: to get a head start on building an additional detention basin that would meet OR exceed Atlas-14 requirements.
During July, Sprint removed approximately 6,400 cubic yards of dirt.
HCFCD spokesperson Amy Stone
To date, Sprint has removed 48,860 yards of material. That’s 18,860 cubic yards more than the contract minimum for six months. And 1,400 cubic yards more than the minimum for July. So you can see that the rate of removal is dipping slightly.
At almost 50,000 cubic yards for 6 months (or 100,000 yards per year), it would take 5 years for Sprint to reach the maximum. However, by contract, Sprint has 36 months. If Sprint continues to average 6,000 cubic yards per month for another 30 months, it would remove a total of 229,000 cubic yards before the end of the contract term ([30×6000]+ 49,000).
So at some point, Sprint will have to sprint to catch up if they want to remove all 500,00 cubic yards.
Recent Photos Show Growth of Basin
Here’s what the site looked like before and after July’s excavation activity.
End of June
Excavation at end of June 2022. Note where the upper right boundary of the pit stops relative to the storm-sewer pipes at far right.
End of July
End of July 2022. Looking south over eastern edge of pond. Newly excavated area is at left (darker dirt).
About E&R Contracts
E&R contracts provide a head start on construction of detention basins before completion of their final design.
Sprint has agreed to remove up to half a million cubic yards of soil for only $1000. But it makes its money back by selling the soil for a profit on the open market. This provides virtually free excavation to taxpayers and virtually free raw material to Sprint. HCFCD has spent only $230 on the project so far. But the tradeoffs are speed and certainty.
The property above forms the headwaters of Taylor Gully. When HCFCD finishes its Taylor Gully study, things may change.
Final Needs Contingent on Outcome of Taylor Gully Study
Expanding Detention On Woodridge Village so that no channel improvements are necessary.
Determining amount of detention and channel improvements necessary to ensure no adverse impact all the way to Lake Houston.
Finding the optimum balance between maximum flood protection and minimum construction costs.
Deliverables include:
Channel and basin layouts
Estimates of benefits for various levels of storms (100-year, etc.)
Right-of-way requirements
Cost estimates for right-of-way acquisition, engineering and construction management.
Performance metrics, i.e., estimated acreage of land inundation, number of structures in floodplain, number of structures flooded and miles of inundated roadway.
A scoring matrix to rank alternatives.
The red dots show location of current excavation relative to entire scope of Idcus project, from yellow polygon on left to end of red line in forest on right.
Idcus should be done with the study soon. In the meantime, residents will have to settle for the virtually free head start we get.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 7/31/2022
1797 Days since Hurricane Harvey
1182 Days since May 7, 2019
1049 Days since TS Imelda
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/20220729-DJI_0263.jpg?fit=1200%2C799&ssl=17991200adminadmin2022-07-31 13:45:182022-07-31 13:59:52July Update: Woodridge Village Excavation Rate Slows Slightly
The “Tree Muggers” at the new Royal Pines subdivision in Montgomery County at the north end of West Lake Houston Parkway continue their relentless and remorseless destruction of trees. How ironic considering that the name implies the developer will market homes to Tree Huggers! Perhaps they:
Feel the name will blind customers to the reality.
Will offer to plant a ceremonial sapling at closing.
Here’s what Royal Pines looked like at the end of July 2022.
Dead tree limbs stacked two stories high awaiting removal. Newly cleared area is at top of frame to the left of Country Colony in the upper right.Higher angle shows proximity to the Triple PG sand mine in the background. White Oak Creek runs between the mine and the subdivision.Looking NE toward Triple PG sand mine in background. The extent of clearing as of the end of July 2022.Looking SSE across Royal Pines toward the current terminus of West Lake Houston Parkway. Looking SW. The distant clearing is Woodridge Village where similar clearcutting contributed to the flooding of hundreds of homes in Elm Grove and North Kingwood Forest twice in 2019.Same direction, but closer and higher. Note the contrast with previous development practices that tried to build homes among the trees.
Old Floodplain Maps Will Put Unsuspecting Buyers at Risk
Note the dotted lines that snake their way through the top of the development. Those represent the 100- and 500-year floodplains.
Notice how a large part of the development is in “Zone X (Shaded).” That’s the area between the limits of the base flood (100-year or 1% annual chance) and the 0.2-percent-annual-chance (or 500-year) flood. I counted more than 80 homes in that zone. I also see six already INSIDE the 100-year zone.
Keep in mind that these flood zones are based on PRE-Harvey estimates. FEMA shows that Montgomery County last mapped this area in 2014. When FEMA approves new POST-Harvey flood maps in the next few years, those zones will expand to take in more of the subdivision.
In Harris County, MAAPnext is revising maps based on higher rainfall probability statistics and current changes in development. And a lot of development has occurred upstream of Royal Pines on White Oak Creek.
MAAPnext advises that, in general, new flood maps will show floodways expand into the 100-year flood zone and the 100-year expanding into 500-year by about 50%.
This is the same problem I talked about yesterday with the Kingland West development in Harris County at the Grand Parkway and the East Fork.
We won World War II in less time than it’s taking to release these new flood maps. Ironically, by the time they’re released, the Tree Muggers will have already invalidated the basis for the new maps. And thus, the cycle of flooding continues.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 7/30/2022
1797 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.
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/20220729-DJI_0271.jpg?fit=1200%2C799&ssl=17991200adminadmin2022-07-30 13:15:532022-07-30 15:14:56Tree Muggers for Tree Huggers: The Irony of Royal Pines
Pipeline Repairs at LMI River Road Mine Need More Repair
In December 2019, I wrote about five HVL pipelines in a utility corridor crossing the LMI River Bend Mine on the San Jacinto West Fork. Erosion had undermined them badly, causing them to sag like clotheslines, as water moved toward the West Fork from one part of the mine to another.
Readers filed complaints with the Mine Safety Administration. And soon, contractors started working on “a fix” for the problem, which had lingered for years. Repairs began in January. Then, in March 2020, I wrote about about completion of the repairs.
The Warning Two Years Ago
But after looking at all the sediment spewing from the culverts, I warned that “one has to worry about them becoming clogged with sand and silt.” Below, see what the area below outfall looked like at the time.
Today, Culverts Almost Totally Blocked
Today, the culverts look like this (see below). I took the images below on 7/22/22.
Below, see how the culvert outfalls have also become clogged.
Repeat of Headward Erosion
The shot above illustrates the same type of headward erosion that started causing the safety problem in 2014.
Is There A Long-Term Fix?
Short of maintaining one’s property to protect public safety, I’m not sure what the long-term solution is. In my opinion, the first obligation of these mines should be public safety. But that often seems like an afterthought.
Neighbors tell me that this mine no longer operates every day. Perhaps the owner, Liberty Materials Inc., is experiencing reduced demand for its product due to economic conditions.
Regardless of the reason, this problem illustrates the need for the TCEQ to stiffen abandonment procedures for sand mines. The thought of those pipelines rupturing highly volatile liquids during a future flood scares me. It should scare anyone who lives along the San Jacinto. What will happen when LMI is no longer here to maintain those culverts?
Posted by Bob Rehak on 8/1/2022
1798 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.
July Update: Woodridge Village Excavation Rate Slows Slightly
The pace of excavation and removal of up to 500,000 cubic yards of soil from Woodridge Village has slowed slightly in recent months. That may be due to rising interest rates, which have slowed housing starts. Contractors use excavated dirt to elevate homesites in new developments. But the Census Bureau says housing starts in June 2022 fell 6.3% below the June 2021 rate.
Woodridge Village Background
Woodridge Village was the failed 670-acre Perry Homes development that twice contributed to flooding hundreds of homes in Kingwood’s Elm Grove and North Kingwood Forest Villages in 2019. Harris County and the City of Houston bought the property in 2021 to help reduce flood risk. They plan to do this by building another detention basin.
Perry left the site about 40% short of the floodwater detention capacity needed to meet current Atlas-14 requirements. Since then, Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) entered into an “Excavation and Removal” contract (E&R) with Sprint Sand and Clay to begin removing additional soil. The goal: to get a head start on building an additional detention basin that would meet OR exceed Atlas-14 requirements.
Harris County Commissioners Court approved the contract with Sprint Sand and Clay on July 20, 2021. It obligates Sprint to remove at least 5000 cubic yards per month. Excavation started on January 27, 2022.
To date, Sprint has removed 48,860 yards of material. That’s 18,860 cubic yards more than the contract minimum for six months. And 1,400 cubic yards more than the minimum for July. So you can see that the rate of removal is dipping slightly.
At almost 50,000 cubic yards for 6 months (or 100,000 yards per year), it would take 5 years for Sprint to reach the maximum. However, by contract, Sprint has 36 months. If Sprint continues to average 6,000 cubic yards per month for another 30 months, it would remove a total of 229,000 cubic yards before the end of the contract term ([30×6000]+ 49,000).
So at some point, Sprint will have to sprint to catch up if they want to remove all 500,00 cubic yards.
Recent Photos Show Growth of Basin
Here’s what the site looked like before and after July’s excavation activity.
End of June
End of July
About E&R Contracts
E&R contracts provide a head start on construction of detention basins before completion of their final design.
Sprint has agreed to remove up to half a million cubic yards of soil for only $1000. But it makes its money back by selling the soil for a profit on the open market. This provides virtually free excavation to taxpayers and virtually free raw material to Sprint. HCFCD has spent only $230 on the project so far. But the tradeoffs are speed and certainty.
The property above forms the headwaters of Taylor Gully. When HCFCD finishes its Taylor Gully study, things may change.
Final Needs Contingent on Outcome of Taylor Gully Study
HCFCD hired Idcus, Inc. in mid-2021 to develop up to five conceptual alternatives for modifying Taylor Gully. Scenarios may include:
Deliverables include:
Idcus should be done with the study soon. In the meantime, residents will have to settle for the virtually free head start we get.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 7/31/2022
1797 Days since Hurricane Harvey
1182 Days since May 7, 2019
1049 Days since TS Imelda
Tree Muggers for Tree Huggers: The Irony of Royal Pines
The “Tree Muggers” at the new Royal Pines subdivision in Montgomery County at the north end of West Lake Houston Parkway continue their relentless and remorseless destruction of trees. How ironic considering that the name implies the developer will market homes to Tree Huggers! Perhaps they:
Houston Business Journal said Royal Pines will ultimately feature between 350 and 450 homes targeted at first-time home buyers.
Construction Status on 7/30/2022
Here’s what Royal Pines looked like at the end of July 2022.
Ever-Widening Clearing
Compare what the development looked like:
Tree Muggers’ Plans
The following links will show you the general plan and layouts for the first three sections:
Old Floodplain Maps Will Put Unsuspecting Buyers at Risk
Note the dotted lines that snake their way through the top of the development. Those represent the 100- and 500-year floodplains.
Notice how a large part of the development is in “Zone X (Shaded).” That’s the area between the limits of the base flood (100-year or 1% annual chance) and the 0.2-percent-annual-chance (or 500-year) flood. I counted more than 80 homes in that zone. I also see six already INSIDE the 100-year zone.
Keep in mind that these flood zones are based on PRE-Harvey estimates. FEMA shows that Montgomery County last mapped this area in 2014. When FEMA approves new POST-Harvey flood maps in the next few years, those zones will expand to take in more of the subdivision.
In Harris County, MAAPnext is revising maps based on higher rainfall probability statistics and current changes in development. And a lot of development has occurred upstream of Royal Pines on White Oak Creek.
MAAPnext advises that, in general, new flood maps will show floodways expand into the 100-year flood zone and the 100-year expanding into 500-year by about 50%.
This is the same problem I talked about yesterday with the Kingland West development in Harris County at the Grand Parkway and the East Fork.
We won World War II in less time than it’s taking to release these new flood maps. Ironically, by the time they’re released, the Tree Muggers will have already invalidated the basis for the new maps. And thus, the cycle of flooding continues.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 7/30/2022
1797 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.