In the last two days, several people have reported dredging near the US59 Bridge. What they actually saw, however, was not a dredge; it was dredge pipe, booster pumps and other related equipment being positioned to pump spoils to Placement Area #2, the Eagle Mine just south of Kingwood College on Sorters Road.
Here’s where things stand a little more than two weeks since the launch of the first dredge on August 20, 2018.
Both the Army Corps and Council Member Dave Martin swear that the scope of the project has not changed. The original scope covered approximately 2.1 miles of the West Fork from River Grove Park to Chimichurri’s just east of the West Lake Houston Parkway Bridge.
Illustration from US Army Corps’ contract plans for West Fork Dredging showing project scope.
Army Corps personnel scouting area between Placement Area 2 and the command site last week.
This week, the Corps started pre-positioning pipe, booster pumps and other equipment up the West Fork between the Command Center and Placement Area #2. Below are several pictures taken this afternoon that show what’s happening where.
This is the booster pump mistaken for the dredge. It is anchored between the railroad bridge and the northbound feeder lanes for US59.
Additional equipment started towing pipe up the West Fork past the confluence of Spring Creek, just west of USt59.
Dredge #1 also started to move farther downstream, closer to the West Lake Houston Parkway Bridge.
Taken from West Lake Houston Parkway Bridge looking west, upstream.
Placement Area #1 started receiving sand and was already partially filled when photographed late afternoon Friday.
Placement Area #1 south of the river behind the apartments on Townsend is already receiving spoils.
This portion of the old sand pit has already filled back up with sediment. Notice the slight curvature of the surface. It’s higher on the right than on the left. Wading birds are already picking over the sand looking for a meal that may have been dredged up from the river.
At the opposite end of the pit, water drains out and back to the river after sediment has settled out.
Dredge #2 is scheduled to launch by October 15, according to Lt. Col. Mark Williford with the US Army Corps of Engineers. As of today, though, dredge #2 was still docked at the command site in its usual place.
Dredge #2 is still anchored at the command site as of Friday afternoon, 10/5/18 at 5pm.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 10/5/2018, with photographic help from Kevin Rehak.
402 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/DredgingDredging-10.5.18_070_3.jpg?fit=1800%2C1024&ssl=110241800adminadmin2018-10-05 22:16:032018-10-06 19:51:25Mistaken Reports of Dredging Near US59 Bridge; Where Things Really Stand
I’ve added a new page to ReduceFlooding.com called “Submissions.” The Submissions page will be the place where images related to Harvey – specifically, the storm, flood, evacuations, shelters, trash, cleanup, repairs, etc. – will reside on this website. I hope the new page will become a Lake Houston Area community family album for all things related to Harvey.
Harvey flooded 6 of 9 buildings at Lone Star College/Kingwood, and cost a total of $60 million.
Please Share Your Images On Submissions Page
If you have images that you would like to share with the world, please submit them. In this way, people will never forget the horrible impact of Harvey. Perhaps your pictures will underscore the need for mitigation projects and urge elected officials to move faster on them. Perhaps they will help convince Lake Conroe residents that temporarily lowering the lake level isn’t such a bad thing after all.
On the Submissions page, you will find an email address to which you can send your images.
Requirements for Submissions
Please make sure they are in JPG or .PNG format and a reasonable size. Then I will post them. Please…no more than ten megs per email.
In your email, please remember to include captions for your submissions. Tell us the date, time, and location. Put the images in context. Keep it brief. Just a sentence or two is usually enough to explain what we are looking at. Specify whether you would like to have your name added to the caption in the credits.
By sending images, you acknowledge that you consent to have them published and that you are the owner of the images.
Don’t Wait; Send Them Now
I’ve already added two pages of images that people have sent me. Please dig through your own album and see if you have some images you would like to share. Thanks!
Posted October 4, 2018, by Bob Rehak
401 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Flooded-Sign.jpg?fit=936%2C590&ssl=1590936adminadmin2018-10-04 14:15:302018-10-04 14:15:30New Submissions Page Added to ReduceFlooding.com
Day 400 since Hurricane Harvey and absolutely nothing newsworthy happened in regard to flood mitigation today. No news on floodgates. No news on the mouth bar. No news on upstream detention. No news on whether sand mines are willing to observe best practices. No news on sand mine real-estate appraisals. No news on the Ike Dike. It was a thoroughly depressing day. Just when I was ready to write it off…
Day 400 since Hurricane Harvey and nothing happened, except perhaps the most spectacular sunset I have ever seen. Could this be a sign?
BAM. A sign. Hope. Inspiration. Another reminder of why I still care so much about this place.
A scudding bank of dull, gray, featureless clouds exploded into vivid, yet subtle hues, revealing layer after layer of depth, dimension, subtlety and awesome power. It was the most beautiful sunset I have seen in years. It lasted for maybe a minute. Then the sun moved or a cloud moved and the extraordinary moment faded into dull gray clouds again.
Earlier, I caught these shots of a spoonbill landing and a great egret taking wing.
Roseate Spoonbill
Taking wing
At moments like these, I feel at one with nature. I can feel the power of the creator breathing hope into every living thing.
So maybe tomorrow will be the day that the City Attorney’s office finds the deeds and easements for Ben’s Branch that it has been looking for for 22 years, and then the county can get on with its job of clearing the channel.
Posted by Bob Rehak on October 3, 2018
400 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Sunset.jpg?fit=1800%2C1083&ssl=110831800adminadmin2018-10-03 22:25:002018-10-04 01:30:59Day 400: Why We Still Care
Mistaken Reports of Dredging Near US59 Bridge; Where Things Really Stand
In the last two days, several people have reported dredging near the US59 Bridge. What they actually saw, however, was not a dredge; it was dredge pipe, booster pumps and other related equipment being positioned to pump spoils to Placement Area #2, the Eagle Mine just south of Kingwood College on Sorters Road.
Here’s where things stand a little more than two weeks since the launch of the first dredge on August 20, 2018.
Both the Army Corps and Council Member Dave Martin swear that the scope of the project has not changed. The original scope covered approximately 2.1 miles of the West Fork from River Grove Park to Chimichurri’s just east of the West Lake Houston Parkway Bridge.
Illustration from US Army Corps’ contract plans for West Fork Dredging showing project scope.
Some confusion arose over that when the first dredge anchored WEST of the West Lake Houston Parkway Bridge for almost two weeks. The dredge anchored near the overhead electrical lines in the middle of section C-102.
Last week, the Corps continued to position dredge pipe and booster pumps between the first dredge and the command site just south of Forest Cove. Additionally, Corps engineers scouted out the route upstream to Placement Area #2.
Army Corps personnel scouting area between Placement Area 2 and the command site last week.
This week, the Corps started pre-positioning pipe, booster pumps and other equipment up the West Fork between the Command Center and Placement Area #2. Below are several pictures taken this afternoon that show what’s happening where.
Additional equipment started towing pipe up the West Fork past the confluence of Spring Creek, just west of USt59.
Dredge #1 also started to move farther downstream, closer to the West Lake Houston Parkway Bridge.
Taken from West Lake Houston Parkway Bridge looking west, upstream.
Placement Area #1 started receiving sand and was already partially filled when photographed late afternoon Friday.
Placement Area #1 south of the river behind the apartments on Townsend is already receiving spoils.
This portion of the old sand pit has already filled back up with sediment. Notice the slight curvature of the surface. It’s higher on the right than on the left. Wading birds are already picking over the sand looking for a meal that may have been dredged up from the river.
At the opposite end of the pit, water drains out and back to the river after sediment has settled out.
Dredge #2 is scheduled to launch by October 15, according to Lt. Col. Mark Williford with the US Army Corps of Engineers. As of today, though, dredge #2 was still docked at the command site in its usual place.
Dredge #2 is still anchored at the command site as of Friday afternoon, 10/5/18 at 5pm.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 10/5/2018, with photographic help from Kevin Rehak.
402 Days since Hurricane Harvey
New Submissions Page Added to ReduceFlooding.com
I’ve added a new page to ReduceFlooding.com called “Submissions.” The Submissions page will be the place where images related to Harvey – specifically, the storm, flood, evacuations, shelters, trash, cleanup, repairs, etc. – will reside on this website. I hope the new page will become a Lake Houston Area community family album for all things related to Harvey.
Harvey flooded 6 of 9 buildings at Lone Star College/Kingwood, and cost a total of $60 million.
Please Share Your Images On Submissions Page
If you have images that you would like to share with the world, please submit them. In this way, people will never forget the horrible impact of Harvey. Perhaps your pictures will underscore the need for mitigation projects and urge elected officials to move faster on them. Perhaps they will help convince Lake Conroe residents that temporarily lowering the lake level isn’t such a bad thing after all.
On the Submissions page, you will find an email address to which you can send your images.
Requirements for Submissions
Please make sure they are in JPG or .PNG format and a reasonable size. Then I will post them. Please…no more than ten megs per email.
In your email, please remember to include captions for your submissions. Tell us the date, time, and location. Put the images in context. Keep it brief. Just a sentence or two is usually enough to explain what we are looking at. Specify whether you would like to have your name added to the caption in the credits.
By sending images, you acknowledge that you consent to have them published and that you are the owner of the images.
Don’t Wait; Send Them Now
I’ve already added two pages of images that people have sent me. Please dig through your own album and see if you have some images you would like to share. Thanks!
Posted October 4, 2018, by Bob Rehak
401 Days since Hurricane Harvey
Day 400: Why We Still Care
Day 400 since Hurricane Harvey and absolutely nothing newsworthy happened in regard to flood mitigation today. No news on floodgates. No news on the mouth bar. No news on upstream detention. No news on whether sand mines are willing to observe best practices. No news on sand mine real-estate appraisals. No news on the Ike Dike. It was a thoroughly depressing day. Just when I was ready to write it off…
Day 400 since Hurricane Harvey and nothing happened, except perhaps the most spectacular sunset I have ever seen. Could this be a sign?
BAM. A sign. Hope. Inspiration. Another reminder of why I still care so much about this place.
A scudding bank of dull, gray, featureless clouds exploded into vivid, yet subtle hues, revealing layer after layer of depth, dimension, subtlety and awesome power. It was the most beautiful sunset I have seen in years. It lasted for maybe a minute. Then the sun moved or a cloud moved and the extraordinary moment faded into dull gray clouds again.
Earlier, I caught these shots of a spoonbill landing and a great egret taking wing.
Roseate Spoonbill
Taking wing
At moments like these, I feel at one with nature. I can feel the power of the creator breathing hope into every living thing.
So maybe tomorrow will be the day that the City Attorney’s office finds the deeds and easements for Ben’s Branch that it has been looking for for 22 years, and then the county can get on with its job of clearing the channel.
Posted by Bob Rehak on October 3, 2018
400 Days since Hurricane Harvey