The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers extended the bid deadline again for its West Fork Emergency Dredging Project. The new bid deadline is Friday, June 22, 2018.
Discussions with potential vendors caused the delay for the FEMA funded project as both vendors and the Corps tried to nail down the exact volume of sediment to be removed. The Corps emphasized that it is restoring a 2+ mile stretch of the West Fork to pre-Harvey conditions. The pre-Harvey requirement comes with FEMA dollars which can only be used to return an area to the condition it was in before the storm.
At River Grove Park, this sandbar blocks the drainage ditch that empties the western third of Kingwood. It grew a quarter mile in length and 12 feet in height during Hurricane Harvey. More than 650 homes flooded in areas north of this sandbar. The Corps’ emergency dredging project will start here and extend past the West Lake Houston Parkway Bridge.
Projected Volume More than Doubles
Forecasted dredging material calculations increased from 748,000 to 1.8 million cubic yards of material that has shoaled. Shoaling is an area of shallow water, especially one that is a navigational hazard. In this case, shoals blocked the main channel of the San Jacinto as well as drainage ditches, such as the one at River Grove Park.
Completion Date Extended 90 Days to Accommodate Extra Volume
Because the volume of sediment to be removed has more than doubled, the Corps has also extended the completion date of the project from 180 to 270 days.
“We’ve encouraged bidders to submit questions and this allowed us to revise dredging quantities,” said Gary Stangeland, Interim Chief of Emergency Management at USACE Galveston District. “We were able to recalculate the volume of material needed and therefore extended the bid deadline and project finish date.”
Extending the project 90 days should allow the winning contractor enough additional time to remove the increased volume of materials.
The Corps’ contracting officers reposted the bid deadline date to a site used by vendors to receive notice on government opportunities. The site is accessible to the public at: Federal Business Opportunities website: https://www.fbo.gov
New Opening Date: Friday at 10 a.m.
“Our process is equitable and efficient as it allows for Corps’ Engineers to interact with vendors that will help us to restore the area to pre-Harvey conditions and help reduce future flooding risks,” said Jeff Neill, USACE Galveston District Contracting Chief, “We’ve publicly posted responses to bidders’ questions to www.projnet.org.” Neill said bids will be opened on June 22, 2018 at 10:00 a.m., local time.
No New Placement Areas for Spoils Anticipated
The physical length of the emergency dredging did not change, just the estimates of the volume of materials within the original area of interest. No additional placement areas for the spoils should be needed, according to the Corps. Stangeland said the two placement areas already identified should be sufficient to store the recalculated increase in forecasted dredged material.
The opening was initially scheduled for May 29, 2018. Even with the delays, this project will be one of the first coming out of Hurricane Harvey that the Corps will complete.
Posted June 21, 2018, by Bob Rehak
296 Days since Hurricane Harvey
00adminadmin2018-06-20 19:51:102018-06-21 06:28:16Army Corps Extends Bid Deadline Again; Opening Now Expected June 22
For decades, weather services have forecasted flood warnings, watches and alerts for general areas, such as the Houston region. But what is the risk to your particular neighborhood? Web-based, interactive tools now make it possible to forecast flood risk near you. However, they require some “do-it-yourself” interpretation. Hence, this post.
YESTERDAY morning (TUESDAY 6/19), I woke up and saw standing water in my backyard. The sky was black. I heard thunder. I remembered the forecast from Monday night about storms training across the area. My heart started racing as I fired up my laptop.
Here is what I did. (NOTE: TODAY’S RAINFALL IS DIFFERENT; THE INFORMATION BELOW IS AN EXAMPLE ONLY TO ILLUSTRATE A PROCEDURE.)
I first went to Space City Weather to get a good feeling for the big picture and learn of any National Weather Service warnings or Harris County Flood Control District insights; it’s always a good idea to consult the professionals first. The threat appeared both east and west of Lake Houston; it seemed as though we might have threaded the needle with this storm. However, forecasters felt the storm over Beaumont at the time might move west during the day.
Houston threaded the needle overnight and avoided the major parts of the storm.
So next, I wanted to see how much capacity the San Jacinto river and Lake Houston had. To figure that out, I went to USGS to find the level of Lake Houston. The spillway is at 42.5 feet shown at the top of this graph. The blue line represents the actual water level.
USGS showed that Lake Houston was still well below the spillway at 42.5 feet, even though it had risen 3 or 4 inches overnight.
You can see from the widening gap between those two lines how the city lowered the lake to create extra capacity before the storm. However, you can also see how the blue line started to turn up at the far right.
Next, I wanted to see if a huge upstream rainfall was rushing toward Lake Houston. So I went to the SJRA site to check the level of Lake Conroe. I determined that the threat from the west was minimal. Lake Conroe was also below its normal level.
On Tuesday, Lake Conroe was about .4 feet below its normal level.
The lake level had only risen a few hundredths of an inch since the day before.
Next, I followed another link on the SJRA website to the Lake Operations and Rainfall Dashboard. It is located right below the information in #3 above. Montgomery County gages showed that not much rain had fallen to our north and west. Only one of 14 gages showed more than an inch of rain. Most showed less than a half inch. At this point, I felt that the threat was more in the future than the present.
Only one of 14 SJRA gages showed more than an inch of rain.
To see what was happening with that two inches that fell on Lake Creek, I went to the Harris County Flood Warning System. I could see from the home page that the gage at US59 had received 1.36 inches of rain and the one at West Lake Houston Parkway 1.44 inches. Not a huge threat! But rainfall doesn’t correlate perfectly with flood levels.
From the Harris County Flood Warning System home page, I was able to quickly locate the gages for the US59 and West Lake Houston Parkway bridges over the San Jacinto River.
I still needed to see how much the San Jacinto was below its banks. So I clicked on the gage at West Lake Houston Parkway for more information. That’s the gage nearest me. The link took me to a page that showed a breakdown of rainfall at that location. Right next to it was a tab called Stream Elevation. In the graph, I could see that the river was near 41 one feet. The banks were six feet higher! Better, there was no sharp rise in the river level. I let out a big “Whew!”
Difference between top of banks and water level
All of this took about 5 minutes. I could have waited for a weather report on TV or checked the weather app on my iPhone. However, they would have only told me what was happening in the region, but not at my exact location. Try it for yourself the next time you have a pitter patter panic.
Had the river been coming out of its banks, I could have accessed the new, near-real-time, inundation mapping system on the Harris County Flood Warning System home page. It is updated every 15 minutes. The map allows you to zoom into your neighborhood and see where flood waters are predicted to go based on the Flood Control District’s models and the river’s height.
The lengthy delays crossing the San Jacinto River on Interstate Highway 69 at rush hour are almost over. TxDOT originally expected repairs could take until September, but is now saying traffic will return to normal by early July.
Only a month ago, finishing repairs to IH-69 before September seemed like a distant dream. Now TxDOT is saying it will restore normal traffic sooner than expected.
That’s the good news. However, between now and then, the concrete spaghetti bowl over the river will become even more tangled as crews work on one lane after another to restore normal traffic flow. So make note of the following. Here’s the latest:
Motorists should expect traffic delays and are strongly encouraged to seek alternate routes.
All closures are subject to cancellation or modification due to adverse weather.
Summary of What will Open When
The southbound mainlanes will be returned to their original condition by 5:00 AM on Monday, June 25, 2018.
The southbound entrance ramp from Kingwood Dr. will be reopened by 5:00 AM on Monday, June 25, 2018.
The southbound exit ramp to FM 1960 will be reopened by 5:00 AM on Monday, June 25, 2018:
The northbound mainlanes will be returned to their original condition by 5:00 AM on Monday, July 02, 2018.
The Eastex HOV/Express Lanes between Kingwood Dr. and the Townsen Park & Ride will be returned to the original condition by 4:00 AM on Monday July 02, 2018.
The northbound entrance ramp from FM 1960/Townsen will be reopened by 5:00 AM on Tuesday, July 03, 2018.
Below, read how TxDOT will meet those deadlines.
Ongoing Traffic Closures at this Time
I-69 Eastex northbound entrance ramp from FM 1960/Townsen:Total closure continuously through 5:00 AM on Tuesday, July 03, 2018. Detour northbound on the frontage road to the entrance ramp from Sorters McClellan Rd.
I-69 Eastex northbound mainlanes between FM 1960 to Kingwood Dr.:Two left lanes closed continuously through 9:00 PM on Friday, June 29, 2018. Three mainlanes will remain open. Please refer to closure #9 below for closure details for the weekend of June 29 th thru July 2nd.
I-69 Eastex southbound entrance ramp from Kingwood Dr.:Total closure continuously through 5:00 AM on Monday, June 25, 2018. Detour southbound on the frontage road to the entrance ramp from Townsen Blvd.
I-69 Eastex southbound frontage road between Kingwood Dr. and Sorters McClellan Rd.: One Left lane closed continuously through 5:00 AM on Friday, June 29, 2018.Please refer to closure #12 below for closure details for the week of June 25 th thru June 29 th.
I-69 Eastex southbound mainlanes between Kingwood Dr. and FM 1960:Two Right lanes closed continuously through 9:00 PM on Friday, June 22. Three mainlanes will remain open. Please refer to closure #6 below for closure details for the weekend of June 22 th thru June 25 th.
I-69 Eastex southbound exit ramp to FM 1960:Total closure continuously through 5:00 AM on Monday, June 25, 2018. Detour southbound on the mainlanes to the exit ramp to Sorters McClellan Rd./Townsen/FM 1960. Follow the Southbound Frontage Rd. to Sorters McClellan Rd., Townsen or FM 1960.
I-69 Eastex HOV/Express Lanes between Kingwood Dr. and the Townsen Park & Ride: Total closure continuously through 4:00 AM on Monday July 02, 2018. Southbound Detour via the entrance from the Townsen Park and Ride. Northbound Detour via the exit at the Townsen Park and Ride.
Closures to restore Southbound Mainlanes
I-69 Eastex southbound mainlanes between Northpark Dr. and FM 1960:One right lane closed nightly from 9:00 PM to 5:00 AM on Monday June 18, Tuesday June 19, Wednesday June 20 and Thursday June 21.
I-69 Eastex southbound frontage road between Kingwood Dr. and Sorters McClellan Rd.: One Left lane closed nightly from 7:00 PM to 5:00 AM on Monday June 18, Tuesday June 19, Wednesday June 20 and Thursday June 21.
I-69 Eastex southbound entrance ramp from Sorters McClellan Rd.:Total closure nightly between 7:00 PM and 5:00 AM on Monday June 18, Tuesday June 19, Wednesday June 20 and Thursday June 21. Detour southbound on the frontage road to the entrance ramp from Townsen Blvd.
I-69 Eastex southbound exit ramp to Sorters McClellan Rd./Townsen/FM 1960:Total closure continuously between 9:00 PM on Friday June 22 and 6:00 PM on Saturday June 23. Detour southbound on the mainlanes to the exit ramp to Will Clayton. Follow the Frontage Rd to the U-turn at Will Clayton; Follow the U-Turn at Will Clayton to the northbound frontage road. Follow the northbound frontage rd. to FM 1960, Townsen or Sorters McClellan Rd. An alternate detour is to exit at Kingwood Dr. and follow the southbound frontage rd. to Sorters McClellan Rd., Townsen and FM 1960.
I-69 Eastex southbound entrance ramp from Sorters McClellan Rd.:Total closure continuously between 9:00 PM on Friday, June 22 and 6:00 PM on Saturday, June 23. Detour southbound on the frontage road to the entrance ramp from Townsen Blvd.
I-69 Eastex southbound mainlanes between FM 1314 and FM 1960:Multiple alternatelanes closed continuously from 9:00 PM on Friday, June 22 through 5:00 AM on Monday, June 25. At least one mainlane will remain open.
I-69 Eastex southbound mainlanes between Townsen and FM 1960: Left, (Inside), shoulder closed between 5:00 AM on Monday June 25 and 5:00 AM on Tuesday July 03.
Closures to Restore Northbound Mainlanes
I-69 Eastex northbound mainlanes between FM 1960 to Kingwood Dr.:One additional Left lane closed nightly from 9:00 PM to 5:00 AM on Monday, June 25, Tuesday June 26, Wednesday June 27 and Thursday June 28.At least two mainlanes will remain open.
I-69 Eastex northbound mainlanes between FM 1960 to Kingwood Dr.:Four alternate lanes closed continuously from 9:00 PM on Friday, June 29, through 5:00 AM on Monday, July 02. At least one mainlane will remain open.
I-69 Eastex northbound exit ramp to Loop 494/ Sorters McClellan Rd: Total closure continuously from 9:00 PM on Friday, June 29, through 5:00 AM on Monday, July 02. Detour via the northbound mainlanes to the exit ramp to Northpark Dr.; U-Turn at Northpark Dr. and then follow the southbound frontage road to either Kingwood Dr. or Sorters McClellan Rd.
I-69 Eastex northbound exit ramp to Kingwood Drive:Total closurecontinuously between 9:00 PM on Friday, June 29, through 5:00 AM on Monday, July 02. Detour via the northbound mainlanes to the exit ramp to Northpark Dr.; U-Turn at Northpark Dr. and then follow the southbound frontage road to either Kingwood Dr. or Sorters McClellan Rd.
Traffic Closures to Restore Frontage Roads
I-69 Eastex southbound frontage road between Kingwood Dr. and Sorters McClellan Rd.: Alternate Left lanes closed nightly from 9:00 PM to 5:00 AM on Monday, June 25, Tuesday June 26 and Wednesday June 27 and Thursday June 28.
I-69 Eastex northbound frontage road between FM 1960 and Sorters McClellan Rd.: Two Left lanes closed nightly from 9:00 PM to 5:00 AM on Monday, July 02, and Tuesday July 03.
Miscellaneous Traffic Closures for Clean Up and Demobilization
I-69 Eastex Turnaround Road from W Hamblen Rd to Hamblen Rd: Total closurecontinuously through 7:00 PM on Tuesday, July 03. Detour from Hamblin Rd: Northbound on Loop 494 to Kingwood Dr.; Detour from McClellan Rd: Southbound on the Southbound Frontage Rd. to FM 1960.
I-69 Eastex Turnaround Road from W Hamblen Rd to Hamblen Rd: Total closure daily between 9:00 AM and 3:00 PM between Thursday July 05 and Friday July 13. Detour from Hamblin Rd: Northbound on Loop 494 to Kingwood Dr.; Detour from McClellan Rd: Southbound on the Southbound Frontage Rd. to FM 1960.
Posted 6/19/2018 by Bob Rehak with thanks to Mark Mitchell for the information!
294 Days since Hurricane Harvey
00adminadmin2018-06-19 14:23:302018-06-19 16:46:18IH-69 Repairs Finish Sooner than Expected; Traffic Returning to Normal Soon
Army Corps Extends Bid Deadline Again; Opening Now Expected June 22
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers extended the bid deadline again for its West Fork Emergency Dredging Project. The new bid deadline is Friday, June 22, 2018.
Discussions with potential vendors caused the delay for the FEMA funded project as both vendors and the Corps tried to nail down the exact volume of sediment to be removed. The Corps emphasized that it is restoring a 2+ mile stretch of the West Fork to pre-Harvey conditions. The pre-Harvey requirement comes with FEMA dollars which can only be used to return an area to the condition it was in before the storm.
At River Grove Park, this sandbar blocks the drainage ditch that empties the western third of Kingwood. It grew a quarter mile in length and 12 feet in height during Hurricane Harvey. More than 650 homes flooded in areas north of this sandbar. The Corps’ emergency dredging project will start here and extend past the West Lake Houston Parkway Bridge.
Projected Volume More than Doubles
Forecasted dredging material calculations increased from 748,000 to 1.8 million cubic yards of material that has shoaled. Shoaling is an area of shallow water, especially one that is a navigational hazard. In this case, shoals blocked the main channel of the San Jacinto as well as drainage ditches, such as the one at River Grove Park.
Completion Date Extended 90 Days to Accommodate Extra Volume
Because the volume of sediment to be removed has more than doubled, the Corps has also extended the completion date of the project from 180 to 270 days.
“We’ve encouraged bidders to submit questions and this allowed us to revise dredging quantities,” said Gary Stangeland, Interim Chief of Emergency Management at USACE Galveston District. “We were able to recalculate the volume of material needed and therefore extended the bid deadline and project finish date.”
Extending the project 90 days should allow the winning contractor enough additional time to remove the increased volume of materials.
The Corps’ contracting officers reposted the bid deadline date to a site used by vendors to receive notice on government opportunities. The site is accessible to the public at: Federal Business Opportunities website: https://www.fbo.gov
New Opening Date: Friday at 10 a.m.
“Our process is equitable and efficient as it allows for Corps’ Engineers to interact with vendors that will help us to restore the area to pre-Harvey conditions and help reduce future flooding risks,” said Jeff Neill, USACE Galveston District Contracting Chief, “We’ve publicly posted responses to bidders’ questions to www.projnet.org.” Neill said bids will be opened on June 22, 2018 at 10:00 a.m., local time.
No New Placement Areas for Spoils Anticipated
The physical length of the emergency dredging did not change, just the estimates of the volume of materials within the original area of interest. No additional placement areas for the spoils should be needed, according to the Corps. Stangeland said the two placement areas already identified should be sufficient to store the recalculated increase in forecasted dredged material.
The opening was initially scheduled for May 29, 2018. Even with the delays, this project will be one of the first coming out of Hurricane Harvey that the Corps will complete.
Posted June 21, 2018, by Bob Rehak
296 Days since Hurricane Harvey
A Quick Way to Assess Flood Risk In Your Neighborhood During Storms
For decades, weather services have forecasted flood warnings, watches and alerts for general areas, such as the Houston region. But what is the risk to your particular neighborhood? Web-based, interactive tools now make it possible to forecast flood risk near you. However, they require some “do-it-yourself” interpretation. Hence, this post.
YESTERDAY morning (TUESDAY 6/19), I woke up and saw standing water in my backyard. The sky was black. I heard thunder. I remembered the forecast from Monday night about storms training across the area. My heart started racing as I fired up my laptop.
Here is what I did. (NOTE: TODAY’S RAINFALL IS DIFFERENT; THE INFORMATION BELOW IS AN EXAMPLE ONLY TO ILLUSTRATE A PROCEDURE.)
Houston threaded the needle overnight and avoided the major parts of the storm.
USGS showed that Lake Houston was still well below the spillway at 42.5 feet, even though it had risen 3 or 4 inches overnight.
You can see from the widening gap between those two lines how the city lowered the lake to create extra capacity before the storm. However, you can also see how the blue line started to turn up at the far right.
On Tuesday, Lake Conroe was about .4 feet below its normal level.
The lake level had only risen a few hundredths of an inch since the day before.
Only one of 14 SJRA gages showed more than an inch of rain.
From the Harris County Flood Warning System home page, I was able to quickly locate the gages for the US59 and West Lake Houston Parkway bridges over the San Jacinto River.
Difference between top of banks and water level
All of this took about 5 minutes. I could have waited for a weather report on TV or checked the weather app on my iPhone. However, they would have only told me what was happening in the region, but not at my exact location. Try it for yourself the next time you have a pitter patter panic.
Had the river been coming out of its banks, I could have accessed the new, near-real-time, inundation mapping system on the Harris County Flood Warning System home page. It is updated every 15 minutes. The map allows you to zoom into your neighborhood and see where flood waters are predicted to go based on the Flood Control District’s models and the river’s height.
Diane Cooper, a Kingwood resident who has 20+ years of forecasting experience with the National Weather Service, also suggested this shortcut. It lets you look at upstream and downstream rainfall over the entire region all at once. My thanks to Diane.
Posted 6/20/2018 by Bob Rehak
295 Days Since Hurricane Harvey
IH-69 Repairs Finish Sooner than Expected; Traffic Returning to Normal Soon
The lengthy delays crossing the San Jacinto River on Interstate Highway 69 at rush hour are almost over. TxDOT originally expected repairs could take until September, but is now saying traffic will return to normal by early July.
Only a month ago, finishing repairs to IH-69 before September seemed like a distant dream. Now TxDOT is saying it will restore normal traffic sooner than expected.
That’s the good news. However, between now and then, the concrete spaghetti bowl over the river will become even more tangled as crews work on one lane after another to restore normal traffic flow. So make note of the following. Here’s the latest:
Motorists should expect traffic delays and are strongly encouraged to seek alternate routes.
All closures are subject to cancellation or modification due to adverse weather.
Summary of What will Open When
Below, read how TxDOT will meet those deadlines.
Ongoing Traffic Closures at this Time
I-69 Eastex northbound entrance ramp from FM 1960/Townsen: Total closure continuously through 5:00 AM on Tuesday, July 03, 2018. Detour northbound on the frontage road to the entrance ramp from Sorters McClellan Rd.
I-69 Eastex northbound mainlanes between FM 1960 to Kingwood Dr.: Two left lanes closed continuously through 9:00 PM on Friday, June 29, 2018. Three mainlanes will remain open. Please refer to closure #9 below for closure details for the weekend of June 29 th thru July 2nd.
I-69 Eastex southbound entrance ramp from Kingwood Dr.: Total closure continuously through 5:00 AM on Monday, June 25, 2018. Detour southbound on the frontage road to the entrance ramp from Townsen Blvd.
I-69 Eastex southbound frontage road between Kingwood Dr. and Sorters McClellan Rd.: One Left lane closed continuously through 5:00 AM on Friday, June 29, 2018. Please refer to closure #12 below for closure details for the week of June 25 th thru June 29 th.
I-69 Eastex southbound mainlanes between Kingwood Dr. and FM 1960: Two Right lanes closed continuously through 9:00 PM on Friday, June 22. Three mainlanes will remain open. Please refer to closure #6 below for closure details for the weekend of June 22 th thru June 25 th.
I-69 Eastex southbound exit ramp to FM 1960: Total closure continuously through 5:00 AM on Monday, June 25, 2018. Detour southbound on the mainlanes to the exit ramp to Sorters McClellan Rd./Townsen/FM 1960. Follow the Southbound Frontage Rd. to Sorters McClellan Rd., Townsen or FM 1960.
I-69 Eastex HOV/Express Lanes between Kingwood Dr. and the Townsen Park & Ride: Total closure continuously through 4:00 AM on Monday July 02, 2018. Southbound Detour via the entrance from the Townsen Park and Ride. Northbound Detour via the exit at the Townsen Park and Ride.
Closures to restore Southbound Mainlanes
Closures to Restore Northbound Mainlanes
Traffic Closures to Restore Frontage Roads
Miscellaneous Traffic Closures for Clean Up and Demobilization
Posted 6/19/2018 by Bob Rehak with thanks to Mark Mitchell for the information!
294 Days since Hurricane Harvey