The Lake Houston area is one step closer to removing some of those giant sandbars deposited on the West Fork during Harvey. Today, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) awarded the bid for its Emergency Dredging Project on the San Jacinto to Great Lakes Dredge and Dock, an international company headquartered in the Chicago area with more than 125 years of experience.
Bid Phase Comes to a Close
The Corps opened three bids for the project on June, 12, 2018. The wide variation in the bid amounts triggered a mandatory review to ensure each bidder met the bid specs. Based on submittals, the apparent low bidder at that time was RLB Contracting from Port Lavaca, TX. However, during the review RLB was judged “non-responsive.”
By law, the Army Corps must then examine the next highest bidder to ensure that they meet specs and can deliver the project for the price in their proposal. In this case, the next lowest bidder was Great Lakes at $69,814,060.
The corps will meet with Great Lakes next week to discuss details of the project. According to bid specifications, work on the project should begin within 5 days of the award. Specs also state that the winning bidder should staff the project to complete it within 270 days.
Example of equipment used by Great Lakes when dredging rivers.
Volume to be Removed Expanded during Bidding
Originally, the Corps specified 180 days. However, the amount of sand and sediment to be removed more than doubled from 780,000 cubic yards to 1.8 million. The change happened before bids were submitted as all three potential vendors went over specs with a fine tooth comb and submitted questions.
According to one vendor, during this back-and-forth phase of the project, bidders discovered that the river had changed so dramatically from the benchmark study, that some of the dredging “profiles” had to be adjusted.
The profiles are representative cross sections of the river at regular intervals between the western and eastern limits of dredging. They show the current and desired depth and width.
Despite the increase in volume to be removed, the Corps still expects at this time that the two disposal sites will accommodate the volume. The disposal sites are sand pits that will be regraded when filled to match contours of the surrounding area. One disposal area is just north of Townsen Blvd. and North Houston Road in Humble. The other is on the Kingwood side of the river off Sorters/McClellan Road just south of Kingwood College.
Prep Work Finishing
While the Corps has been sorting through dredging bids, the City of Houston has been hard at work removing debris from the shores of the lake and tributaries. Crews have finished removing dead trees from the dam and West Fork. This week they worked their way up the East Fork to East End Park. Today, fishermen spotted them working north of the FM1960 bridge.
Dead tree removal before dredging on Lake Houston is nearly complete.
Even though the current dredging project will not include the East Fork or Lake Houston, the removal of dead trees will help improve safety in the event of another flood. The deadfall could get caught up in the FM1960 bridge and create an artificial dam that would back water up into residential areas.
The USACE Galveston District was established in 1880 as the first engineer district in Texas to oversee river and harbor improvements. The district is directly responsible for maintaining more than 1,000 miles of channel, including 250 miles of deep draft and 750 miles of shallow draft as well as the Colorado River Locks and Brazos River Floodgates.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 7/6/2018
311 Days since Hurricane Harvey
00adminadmin2018-07-06 18:08:012018-07-06 18:36:36Army Corps of Engineers Awards Dredging Bid on West Fork Emergency Project
Harris County Flood Warning System rainfall totals while this post was being written.
Someone asked me yesterday, with considerable frustration, why flood mitigation took so long.
On their way to the Lake Houston Area, floodwaters cross more political and departmental boundaries than I have fingers and toes to count on. (That’s especially true if you consider funding to address flooding, rule-making bodies that affect flooding, groups that predict flooding, and departments that respond to flooding). The short list includes:
Houston
Houston Public Works
Houston Planning and Development
Houston City Council
Houston Emergency Management
Houston Police Department
Houston Fire Department
911
TransStar
Humble
Porter
Spring
Woodlock
New Caney
Splendora
Conroe
The Woodlands Township
Harris County
Harris County Flood Control
Harris County Emergency Management
Harris County Sheriffs’ Department
Montgomery County
Waller County
San Jacinto County
Walker County
San Jacinto River Authority
State of Texas
Governor of the State of Texas
Texas House
Texas Senate
Texas Department of Public Safety
Texas Division of Emergency Management
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
Texas Parks and Wildlife
United States of America
Department of Defense
U.S. Army
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Homeland Security
FEMA
Housing and Urban Development
Environmental Protection Agency
NOAA
National Weather Service
National Hurricane Center
U.S. Geological Service
U.S. House of Representatives
U.S. Senate
U.S. President
Cajun Navy
My apologies if I left anyone out. I could have drilled down into each one of these – the way I did for the City of Houston. But the Cajun Navy didn’t have an org chart. I also ran out of places on my calculator.
Seriously, flood mitigation has waaaay more moving parts than an aircraft carrier. But that’s a somewhat unfair analogy, because an aircraft carrier has a captain who knows where he wants to go and how to get there.
No wonder this stuff takes so long.
Can you imagine? Someone is breaking into your house. You call the police, but the 911 operator tells you to hang tight while the governor and president declare an emergency; Congress appropriates funds; Emergency Management devises a response plan; FEMA reviews your claim; three other agencies hire consultants who conduct an area-wide threat survey; TDEM prioritizes your needs; the Army Corps of Engineers studies bids; and the City works out an inter-local agreement with the County to raise matching funds, so that HUD can provide the money to buy out your house … when you’re dead and buried.
Who would tolerate an emergency response system that responds that way? 325 million Americans. That’s who.
If only Mother Nature respected political boundaries the way we do!
Happy Independence Day!
Posted July 4, 2018 by Bob Rehak
309 Days since Hurricane Harvey
00adminadmin2018-07-04 16:13:562018-07-04 17:04:29Mother Nature Does Not Respect Political Boundaries
The Lake Houston Chamber has launched its latest campaign in a series of flood mitigation efforts. Called the “Plea for DDG,” it is designed to:
Help educate residents and business owners about three key proposals that could address the root causes of flooding in the Lake Houston Area
Help turn out a crowd at Harris County’s flood bond meeting on July 10, 6 p.m., at Kingwood Park High School.
Purpose of Flood Bond Meeting
The purpose of the flood bond meeting is to solicit input from residents on the things that they believe will best help the largest numbers of people.
DDG: More Detention, Dredging and Gates
DDG stands for more Detention, Dredging and Gates, three proposals that will reduce flooding here.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is NOT addressing this giant sand bar in its dredging project – a big reason why we need to get the County to address additional dredging in its flood bond package.
Harvey taught us that we had vulnerabilities. We had more water coming downstream than the San Jacinto’s current channel and the Lake Houston Dam could handle in a timely way. We need to fix those problems so residents know that a 1% storm will leave a home above the 100-year flood plain high and dry. Likewise for a 500-year flood. To do that:
More upstream detention will mean less water coming downstream at us.
It’s simple. Logical. Achievable. And should restore drainage to original design assumptions.
Now we just need to get enough people to show up and request these things at the bond meeting for the county to include them in the bond package.
Drag your friends, relatives and neighbors to this meeting…especially the ones that didn’t flood.
Remind them that the flood affected this entire community. Tell them why more detention, dredging and gates are so important.
Get them to request more dredging, detention and gates from the County. These three measures could help virtually everyone who lives in the area.
DDG: A two step process
We have to make sure we get the right measures into the bond package. Then we have to get people to vote for it.
Right now, nothing is more important to the future of this area.
This bond package will be used to:
Pay for capital projects outright
Qualify us for federal matching grants that could triple the amount of dollars available to us (beyond the amount voters approve).
Free up money in the Flood Control District’s current capital budget so that the Distict can step up maintenance on ditches (which we also desperately need).
So tell everyone you know to “Plea for DDG” – more detention, dredging and gates – at the bond meeting on July 10, 2018, 6-8 p.m., at Kingwood Park High School.
Army Corps of Engineers Awards Dredging Bid on West Fork Emergency Project
The Lake Houston area is one step closer to removing some of those giant sandbars deposited on the West Fork during Harvey. Today, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) awarded the bid for its Emergency Dredging Project on the San Jacinto to Great Lakes Dredge and Dock, an international company headquartered in the Chicago area with more than 125 years of experience.
Bid Phase Comes to a Close
The Corps opened three bids for the project on June, 12, 2018. The wide variation in the bid amounts triggered a mandatory review to ensure each bidder met the bid specs. Based on submittals, the apparent low bidder at that time was RLB Contracting from Port Lavaca, TX. However, during the review RLB was judged “non-responsive.”
By law, the Army Corps must then examine the next highest bidder to ensure that they meet specs and can deliver the project for the price in their proposal. In this case, the next lowest bidder was Great Lakes at $69,814,060.
The corps will meet with Great Lakes next week to discuss details of the project. According to bid specifications, work on the project should begin within 5 days of the award. Specs also state that the winning bidder should staff the project to complete it within 270 days.
Example of equipment used by Great Lakes when dredging rivers.
Volume to be Removed Expanded during Bidding
Originally, the Corps specified 180 days. However, the amount of sand and sediment to be removed more than doubled from 780,000 cubic yards to 1.8 million. The change happened before bids were submitted as all three potential vendors went over specs with a fine tooth comb and submitted questions.
According to one vendor, during this back-and-forth phase of the project, bidders discovered that the river had changed so dramatically from the benchmark study, that some of the dredging “profiles” had to be adjusted.
The profiles are representative cross sections of the river at regular intervals between the western and eastern limits of dredging. They show the current and desired depth and width.
Despite the increase in volume to be removed, the Corps still expects at this time that the two disposal sites will accommodate the volume. The disposal sites are sand pits that will be regraded when filled to match contours of the surrounding area. One disposal area is just north of Townsen Blvd. and North Houston Road in Humble. The other is on the Kingwood side of the river off Sorters/McClellan Road just south of Kingwood College.
Prep Work Finishing
While the Corps has been sorting through dredging bids, the City of Houston has been hard at work removing debris from the shores of the lake and tributaries. Crews have finished removing dead trees from the dam and West Fork. This week they worked their way up the East Fork to East End Park. Today, fishermen spotted them working north of the FM1960 bridge.
Dead tree removal before dredging on Lake Houston is nearly complete.
Even though the current dredging project will not include the East Fork or Lake Houston, the removal of dead trees will help improve safety in the event of another flood. The deadfall could get caught up in the FM1960 bridge and create an artificial dam that would back water up into residential areas.
For more detail about Great Lakes, see their brochure on their river and lake expertise.
For more about the U.S. Army Corps, visit www.swg.usace.army.mil, www.facebook.com/GalvestonDistrict or www.twitter.com/USACEgalveston.
The USACE Galveston District was established in 1880 as the first engineer district in Texas to oversee river and harbor improvements. The district is directly responsible for maintaining more than 1,000 miles of channel, including 250 miles of deep draft and 750 miles of shallow draft as well as the Colorado River Locks and Brazos River Floodgates.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 7/6/2018
311 Days since Hurricane Harvey
Mother Nature Does Not Respect Political Boundaries
Harris County Flood Warning System rainfall totals while this post was being written.
Someone asked me yesterday, with considerable frustration, why flood mitigation took so long.
On their way to the Lake Houston Area, floodwaters cross more political and departmental boundaries than I have fingers and toes to count on. (That’s especially true if you consider funding to address flooding, rule-making bodies that affect flooding, groups that predict flooding, and departments that respond to flooding). The short list includes:
My apologies if I left anyone out. I could have drilled down into each one of these – the way I did for the City of Houston. But the Cajun Navy didn’t have an org chart. I also ran out of places on my calculator.
Seriously, flood mitigation has waaaay more moving parts than an aircraft carrier. But that’s a somewhat unfair analogy, because an aircraft carrier has a captain who knows where he wants to go and how to get there.
No wonder this stuff takes so long.
Can you imagine? Someone is breaking into your house. You call the police, but the 911 operator tells you to hang tight while the governor and president declare an emergency; Congress appropriates funds; Emergency Management devises a response plan; FEMA reviews your claim; three other agencies hire consultants who conduct an area-wide threat survey; TDEM prioritizes your needs; the Army Corps of Engineers studies bids; and the City works out an inter-local agreement with the County to raise matching funds, so that HUD can provide the money to buy out your house … when you’re dead and buried.
Who would tolerate an emergency response system that responds that way? 325 million Americans. That’s who.
If only Mother Nature respected political boundaries the way we do!
Happy Independence Day!
Posted July 4, 2018 by Bob Rehak
309 Days since Hurricane Harvey
Lake Houston Chamber Launches Plea for DDG
The Lake Houston Chamber has launched its latest campaign in a series of flood mitigation efforts. Called the “Plea for DDG,” it is designed to:
Purpose of Flood Bond Meeting
The purpose of the flood bond meeting is to solicit input from residents on the things that they believe will best help the largest numbers of people.
DDG: More Detention, Dredging and Gates
DDG stands for more Detention, Dredging and Gates, three proposals that will reduce flooding here.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is NOT addressing this giant sand bar in its dredging project – a big reason why we need to get the County to address additional dredging in its flood bond package.
Harvey taught us that we had vulnerabilities. We had more water coming downstream than the San Jacinto’s current channel and the Lake Houston Dam could handle in a timely way. We need to fix those problems so residents know that a 1% storm will leave a home above the 100-year flood plain high and dry. Likewise for a 500-year flood. To do that:
Less input. More throughput. Faster output.
It’s simple. Logical. Achievable. And should restore drainage to original design assumptions.
Now we just need to get enough people to show up and request these things at the bond meeting for the county to include them in the bond package.
Drag your friends, relatives and neighbors to this meeting…especially the ones that didn’t flood.
Remind them that the flood affected this entire community. Tell them why more detention, dredging and gates are so important.
Get them to request more dredging, detention and gates from the County. These three measures could help virtually everyone who lives in the area.
DDG: A two step process
We have to make sure we get the right measures into the bond package. Then we have to get people to vote for it.
This bond package will be used to:
So tell everyone you know to “Plea for DDG” – more detention, dredging and gates – at the bond meeting on July 10, 2018, 6-8 p.m., at Kingwood Park High School.
For more information about the Chamber’s campaign, see recoverLakeHouston.com.
Posted 7/2/2018 by Bob Rehak
308 days since Hurricane Harvey