The first contracts for the Texas Coastal Project, the largest civil engineering and coastal management undertaking in state history, are beginning to be announced.
The barrier is a complex 20-year, $34-billion project originally put forward by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and the Texas General Land Office.
It would protect Galveston Island, Galveston Bay, the Bolivar Peninsula and the upper Texas coast from storm surge flooding caused by hurricanes.
The proposal was the result of a $19.8 million Texas Coastal Study led by the USACE. If completed as outlined, the project’s integrated system of gates, levees, dunes and nature-based features might turn out to be the largest coastal protection effort in U.S. history. Thousands of design, engineering and construction jobs could be created over multiple decades.
To date, U.S. Congress has authorized the appropriation of $5 million to the Texas Coastal Project, with the state chipping in $1 billion. Ultimately it is expected the federal government will cover approximately 65 per cent of the total cost.
The overall Coastal Texas Project employs “multiple lines of defense” consisting of 18 unique elements across three distinct projects. The largest component is the Galveston Bay Storm Surge Barrier System.
This system has become known colloquially as “The Ike Dike,” after Hurricane Ike in 2008 caused severe flooding in the City of Galveston and over $30 billion in storm-related damage to the upper Texas coast. The storm surge impacted thousands of Texas homes and businesses around Galveston Bay, scraped Bolivar Peninsula nearly bare and created a coastal debris line 15 feet tall and 40 miles long.
The Galveston Bay Storm Surge Barrier System is comprised of eight elements, split into gulf defenses and bay defenses.
The gulf defenses separate Galveston Bay from the Gulf of Mexico to reduce storm surge volumes entering the bay and to provide direct protection against storm surge for communities on the barrier island. The bay defenses enable the system to manage residual risks from the run-up of water contained within the Galveston Bay system, plus any additional gulf surge that overtops the gulf line of defense.
Acting together, these will provide the most storm surge flood protection possible.
The design incorporates structural elements such as swing and surge gates, vertical lift gates, deep-draft navigation gates, shallow water environmental gates and combi walls as well as non-structural coastal storm risk management actions.
Dallas-based Jacobs Solutions was selected in early February by the Gulf Coast Protection District to lead the engineering design for the Bolivar Roads Gate System, a critical portion of the Galveston Bay Storm Surge Barrier System. Jacobs is a global technical professional services firm headquartered in Dallas that provides engineering, scientific and construction consultancy.
“The Gate,” as it is called, will be among the largest coastal storm surge barrier gate systems in the world when completed. It is described as a two-mile-long multi-gate closure structure between Galveston Island and the Bolivar Peninsula. The gates are to remain open unless the region is threatened by a tropical storm event, thereby maintaining both critical navigation and environmental flows.
A second line of defense has also been proposed, consisting of a ring barrier system on Galveston Island, surge gates and pumping stations on the mainland, plus non-structural measures such as flood-proofing and the raising of buildings on the mainland.
Coastal storms not only damage homes, businesses, industry, infrastructure and the natural environments of the Texas coast but also have a severe impact on both the state and U.S. economy.
In particular, the Galveston Bay Storm Surge Barrier System will protect the Houston Ship Channel, the nation’s top port for waterborne tonnage.
“Once complete, it is expected to help protect more than six million residents, safeguard an estimated $800 billion in regional assets and support continued operations along the Houston Ship Channel, one of the world’s busiest energy corridors,” Jacobs executive vice-president Eva Wood said in a media release.
She described the Texas Coastal Barrier’s importance, “a generational investment in Texas’ future.”
According to the Gulf Coast Protection District, the Houston Ship Channel and port is integral to critical petrochemical and refining complexes that supply 32 per cent of the nation’s total refining capacity, 60 per cent of aviation fuel, 80 per cent of military-grade fuel and 42 per cent of specialty chemical feedstock.
“The Coastal Texas Project is not only an important safety measure, but it will save money in the long term by softening the destructive power of storms along the Gulf Coast,” says U.S. Senator Ted Cruz. “This is a win-win, not just for Texans, but for taxpayers nationwide.”
With particular reference to her company’s contract, Wood added, “By leveraging our experience on the world’s most complex surge barrier programs, we’re delivering a system designed to focus on the Gulf Coast’s resilience to extreme weather events, while keeping the Houston Ship Channel open for commerce. This investment is expected to safeguard communities, protect critical ecosystems, while advancing innovative tools for long-term operational readiness.”
