Mobilization in Full Swing For Army Corps Dredging Project
The countdown has begun to D-Day – Dredging Day. D-Day is still a month away, but things are changing on the ground. Finally. Mobilization has begun for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Emergency Dredging Project on the West Fork of the San Jacinto.
During the last week, the winning bidder has been out surveying the lake, planning the job, and ordering equipment and materials. Now the hard work has started.
Roads are being built to the staging area. Equipment is being installed. Pipeline is being laid. For all those who doubted this day would ever come, here are the pictures that prove it’s happening.
Building a road to the launch site. All photos courtesy of the US Army Corps of Engineers
Grading the road.
Dock area shaping up.
Containers and heavy equipment arriving.
Generators in tow.
Heavy equipment and dredge pipe.
What to Expect When
Right now, crews are setting up the staging area. This week, pipeline arrives and crews will begin installing it. By August 18, two dredges will arrive in pieces by truck. Crews will then begin assembling and launching them.
On August 20, general debris removal will begin. By September 1, the dredges should be sucking sand out of the river and pumping it into placement sites. That process will continue until next April.
Phase Two?
At that point, unless funding has been approved to extend the dredging to include the mouth bar, the contractor, Great Lakes Dredge and Dock will begin removing its equipment from the river and cleaning up after themselves.
The cost of mobilization and demobilization – $17,900,000 out of approximately $69,800,000 – represents almost exactly 25% of the contract. The time also represents about 25% of the total time allotted.
For Your Own Safety…
For safety reasons, the Army Corps respectfully requests the public to stay away from the staging area. The amount of heavy equipment in use and the fast pace of work make this important. The Corps is not publishing details of the staging area’s location, though that will soon become apparent due to the increase in traffic. Just remember, these people have a large job to do and little time to do it. Please respect the demands on their time and respect the perimeter of the job site for your own safety. In the next eight months, they will move enough sand to fill up the Astrodome and then some.
Posted by Bob Rehak on July 31, 2018
336 Days since Hurricane Harvey