Tag Archive for: River Grove

Corps Finishing Touch-Up Dredging at River Grove, Moving Downriver

Good news for residents. Last week, the Army Corps of Engineers and its contractor, Great Lakes Dredge and Dock, finished dredging the area up to the boat dock at River Grove Park. However, because of the size of the hydraulic dredge, it could not quite finish the job. So on Monday, the contractor returned with mechanical dredging equipment to work in the tight drainage ditch area by the boat dock. See the photo below courtesy of Don Harbour.

Mechanical dredging equipment was able to maneuver into the tight location that the hydraulic dredge could not. Photo courtesy of Don Harbour, a local resident.

The Kingwood Service Association also requested the Corps to reduce the angle on the edge of the remaining side bar. Young people frequently played on the bar. Community leaders were concerned that a cave in near the steep edge could cause a bad accident.  

Contractors scraped back edge of sand bar to prevent cave-ins caused by curious kids.

As you can see from the edge of the bar in the photo above, the Corps has addressed that issue. 

This afternoon when I visited the park, I saw a survey boat checking to ensure the contractors had reached the proper depth.

Survey boat checks for proper depth while mechanical dredge stands by.

Multiple Activities Create Hazards for Recreational Boaters

The River Grove area today was busier than Santa’s workshop on Christmas Eve. However, the main focus of dredging activity will soon move east. Dredge #1, operated by subcontractor Callan Marine is now working close to the West Lake Houston Parkway Bridge. Dredge #2, operated by Great Lakes, is now operating just east of River Grove (see point #4 in photo below).

The river is busy. Stay off it for your own safety.

From the boat dock today, I saw five different clusters of activity in different areas: 1) survey boat, 2) mechanical dredge, 3) debris removal on far side of river, 4) Hydraulic dredge moving towards the country club, and 5) a back hoe removing vegetation from the triangular sand dune  in the distance.

Both dredges will continue to work their way east until they reach their respective goals. 

Latest Schedule

The Corps’ schedule originally called for completion in mid-April 2019. However, crews have been delayed by recent storms and floods, as well as greater than expected sedimentation in the river. Their most recent schedule calls for completion by April 30 and demobilization during the first two weeks of May.

Status of Mouth Bar Project Still Uncertain

Everyone I talk to hopes FEMA and the Corps will grant approval for a second project that addresses the huge sand bar at the mouth of the West Fork before this project reaches completion. If that does not happen, demobilization and remobilization at a future date would cost about $18 million. 

The “Mouth Bar,” a giant sand bar that blocks the West Fork of the San Jacinto, backing the river up into Kingwood and Humble. The mouth bar is not within the scope of the current Army Corps dredging project, but officials have been trying to get FEMA and the Corps to include it. Water depth is generally 1-3 feet around this bar. Max channel depth in places is just 5 feet.

Sources in Austin expected an announcement weeks ago on the mouth bar. Congressman Ted Poe requested a meeting with the head of the Army Corps to discuss the project. However, the  meeting originally scheduled for November 28th was delayed into next year. That means Congressman-elect Dan Crenshaw will inherit the battle. Meanwhile, Senator Ted Cruz has thrown the weight of his office behind the effort to dredge the mouth bar.

Corps to Meet with Super Neighborhood Council Wednesday Night

Eduardo Irigoyen, the project manager of the Emergency West Fork Dredging Project (the dredging currently underway), will meet with the Kingwood Super Neighborhood Council tomorrow night. The meeting at the Kingwood Community Center starts at 7PM. Mr. Irigoyen will update local leaders on the status of the Corps’ project. The meeting is open to the public, but seating is very limited.

Posted by Bob Rehak on December 18, 2018

476 Days since Hurricane Harvey

Drone Footage of River Grove Park Shows Scope of Last Flood

Jim Zura, owner of Zura Productions, sent me three clips shot from his drones last Saturday at River Grove Park. They show just how wide the river got at this low point at the peak of the flood. They also show the impact of dredging on the massive side bar that blocked the drainage ditch which runs through the park.

At this point, dredging is only about 20% complete. So we have not yet seen the full effect, nor will we until the mouth bar issue is addressed. 

Flying into River Grove and looking down on parking lot.
Flying out over river to dredged area
Flying out over playing fields

My thanks to Jim Zura for letting me share his work with the community. This impressive footage enhances our understanding of the world around us.

Posted on December 12, 2018, by Bob Rehak with permission from Jim Zura, Zura Productions

470 Days since Hurricane Harvey

U.S. Army Liberates River Grove Park

465 Days after Hurricane Harvey, the U.S. Army has finally liberated River Grove Park in Kingwood. They literally took the beach.

Drainage ditch at River Grove is now open to the San Jacinto River.

Actually, they took the giant sand bar that Harvey deposited one night. It had been blocking the drainage ditch that runs through the park and that caused excessive flooding. The two shots immediately below show what that sand bar looked like before dredging.

Sandbar deposited by Hurricane Harvey at River Grove forced water to make a 90 degree turn before it could reach the river. This slowed the velocity of runoff and backed up water into subdivisions, like the Barrington in the background. While the sandbar looks low from the air it was up to 15 feet high directly in front of the drainage ditch (middle left). See below.

The same dune in the previous image photographed from the boat dock.

Dredge Now Moves Downriver

Dredge is now moving downriver.

Work to Date

Dredge #1 is working alongside the West Lake Houston Parkway bridge. It has dredged approximately 135,000 cubic yards of sand and silt to date, according to the Corps’ project manager.

Dredge #2 is working on the upstream end of the project, still near River Grove. It has dredged approximately 226,000 cubic yards to date. After dredging the access channel to River Grove, surveys showed there were some areas that the dredge could not reach.  Great Lakes, the contractor will use a barge-mounted excavator to perform final clean-up work. Updated surveys will then confirm achievement of plan goals.

Dredging plans for River Grove indicate a channel width of 50 feet and a depth of 15 feet near the boat ramp.

For all the people who live upstream from the drainage ditch that runs through River Grove, this is an early Christmas present. It will be interesting to see what happens to flood levels in the park now that the bar blocking the ditch has been removed…just in time for a major fall storm that could drop up to 10″ on the US59 corridor. However, we also need to remember that the City is dropping the level of the Lake by at least 18″.

Posted on December 7, 2018 by Bob Rehak

465 Days since Hurricane Harvey

River Grove Boat Ramp May Open Next Week

Some unexpected good news! The River Grove boat ramp could soon open…as early as next week. The Great Lakes Dredge is starting to chew its way through the massive side bar that has had Kingwood’s only boat dock shut down for 16 months.

The original speculation was that the Army Corps would leave River Grove alone until the rest of the job was complete. Corps officials told me that they worried about the safety of recreational boaters around the massive dredging equipment and pipelines.

Something must have changed because at 8 a.m. this morning, Bruce Casto snapped this shot on his cell phone. Bruce heard second hand from another person in the park that someone on the dredge yelled across the water that,  “The boat dock will be open in a week.”

I try not to repeat rumors but I’ve known Bruce for a long time and trust him. And given the location of the dredge in this photo, there is a better than 50/50 chance that River Grove will soon open. I have not verified that yet with the Army Corps of Engineers because of the timing of this surprise (on the weekend).

Posted on 12/3/18 by Bob Rehak

461 Days since Hurricane Harvey

 

Second Dredge Reaches Start Point at River Grove Park

Dredge #2 has moved down the West Fork of the San Jacinto River to River Grove Park, the western limit of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Emergency Dredging Project.

An aerial view of the starting point at River Grove Park for Dredge #2; photo taken 9/14/2017.

At River Grove, the second dredge, which is owned by Great Lakes Dredge & Dock, the primary contractor, will cut a 150-foot-wide opening in the giant sand bar above that blocks the drainage ditch. That ditch empties the western third of Kingwood. Approximately 650 homes flooded above this blockage. The opening should allow the drainage ditch to flow directly into the river again. It will also let boaters use the launch at the park.

Ugly Photo, Beautiful Sight

Dredge #2 has reached its starting point at River Grove Park. It should begin dredging in the next day or so once pipe reaches Placement Area 2. Here, the dredge is seen behind the 10-12 foot high “side bar” seen in the first photo above. Foliage in the foreground has grown since the first photo was taken shortly after Harvey.

Plans for the 150-foot-wide path through the giant sand bar.

Second Dredge Will Start This Week

Even though the dredge has moved into position, it has not yet started dredging. The dredge pipe that will carry sediment is still several thousand feet short of an old sand mine, Placement Area #2 on Sorters Road south of Kingwood College.

The second dredge will begin working after pipe reaches the old mine.

Sediment in the West Fork has made it difficult to float the pipe upstream. Mechanical dredges have had to cut a path through the sediment, which has reduced the river’s depth to one foot or less in places.

Easterly Direction for Dredging

Both dredges will work in a downstream direction until they complete their respective portions of the river.

That is because the river is so shallow. Dredge #1 reportedly bottomed out five times on its way to its starting point between Kingwood Greens and King’s Lake Estates. Mechanical dredges also had to clear a path for it. Starting west and working east reduces the amount of time it takes for each dredge to get to its starting point.

By completion of the project, expected around April 1 next year, West Fork channel conveyance between River Grove and Chimichurri’s should be restored to pre-Harvey conditions.

Meanwhile, Officials Continue to Plan Phase II

Between now and then, the City, County and State will work with FEMA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to plan and launch Phase II of the dredging. Phase II would include the mouth bar area. Details yet to be worked out include an environmental survey and identification of a placement area for the spoils.

As of this morning, Houston City Council Member Dave Martin was confident that both could be accomplished and that the mouth-bar dredging could be approved before the current project is done. If so, that would save taxpayers $17 million on mobilization and demobilization costs for a second, separate job.

Posted on 10/16/2018 by Bob Rehak

413 Days since Hurricane Harvey