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Posts tagged as “Houston Ship Channel”

Flood funds need matches for mitigation

May 13, 2021

By Lewis Spearman

EAST HARRIS COUNTY – Problems matching money set aside to mitigate flooding locally are allowing flood conditions to threaten the Greater Houston Area.

Remember all those floods from the Memorial Day Flood to Hurricane Harvey? Citizens of Harris County passed a $2.5 billion dollar matching funds bond to deal with making an infrastructure to reduce the risk of floods.

The $2.5 billion bond passed in 2018, and Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) planned for state and federal agencies to match the bond amount. But the HCFCD explained that the Texas General Land Office changed how it allocated funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Houston and Harris County are now competing with the rest of Texas for Hurricane Harvey relief. The 2015 Memorial Day and 2016 Tax Day floods did not receive grants, according to the HCFCD.

Continue reading...Flood funds need matches for mitigation

Lynchburg Ferry back in Service

April 29, 2021

The Lynchburg Ferry reopened on Monday, April 26. Drivers may now cross the Houston Ship Channel using the updated facility.

The Harris County Toll Road Authority (HCTRA) will resume operations of the Lynchburg Ferry beginning Monday, April 26 at 4:30 a.m. Use of the facility remains free of charge.

The Lynchburg Ferry closed in February of 2020 for necessary improvements to preserve the longevity of its operations. The project was a joint venture between Harris County and the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT).

Continue reading...Lynchburg Ferry back in Service

New pipeline crosses River, Neighborhoods

February 4, 2021
Exxon Pipeline Company exacting the line through the neighborhood that connects the Baytown plant to Pasadena and Webster.The pipelines are done using the horizontal directional drill technique, an advanced method for pipeline and utility installations.

LYNCHBURG – ExxonMobil Pipeline Company will install pipelines underneath the San Jacinto River, one at the Houston Ship Channel between here and Baytown, the other north to the IH-10 bridge using a technique called Horizontal Directional Drilling.

Some of this work will include activity on Alexander Island, an uninhabited island within the channel. This project is a part of a $500 million energy infrastructure investment in East Harris County.

According to a press release from ExxonMobil Pipeline Company, “Throughout all phases of planning and installation, work will be conducted with an unwavering commitment to the safety of the community, the environment and our team members. We are proud of the highly skilled team we have assembled for this project, and we encourage you to follow our progress as the project advances at: http://webster.exxonmobilpipeline.com/, where you can ask us a question about our work and hear directly from some of our team members about how they keep safety first.

Continue reading...New pipeline crosses River, Neighborhoods

Work progresses on Lynchburg Ferry re-opening

February 4, 2021
Ferry awaits pathways and ramps
Locals are hopeful of an early completion of the Lynchburg Ferry before April. However anytime tonnage meets the sea substantial engineering must be carried out. This $6 Million project is a three way partnership between Harris County Pct. 2, HCTRA, and TXDOT.

Tentative opening set for April

LYNCHBURG – Locals are excited over the Ferry opening soon as traffic now begins to get heavy at 3:00 p.m.

The Lynchburg Ferry closed Tues., Feb. 25 2020 for necessary improvements to preserve the longevity of its operations. During the closure, crews are reconstructing the approaches and transfer ramps for the Lynchburg Ferry Boats.

According to informed sources, a second contractor is completing construction because the first encountered problems. During this closure, crews are reconstructing the approaches and transfer ramps that go onto and off of the Lynchburg Ferry boats. The $6 million project is a joint venture between Harris County Precinct 2, HCTRA (Harris County Toll Road Authority) and the Texas Department of Transportation.

At least another month of construction is going to be necessary due to demands of engineering to construction fulfillment, according to sources. Officially, the expected completion date is in April. Once complete, the Lynchburg Ferry will resume standard, toll-free operations.

Continue reading...Work progresses on Lynchburg Ferry re-opening

Local Superfund sites await funding resolve

October 1, 2020

HIGHLANDS– CROSBY – The San Jacinto Waste Pit is one of four local Superfund sites that are being reviewed by the Trump Administration in regard to funding.

The recent flooding threats have called for extensive review of the safeguards of contaminants at the French Limited site, the Sikes Disposal Pits, the Highlands Acid Pits and now Patrick Bayou.

The 185-acre Sikes Disposal Pits was a place for dumping petroleum-based and other chemicals, then 22.5-acres was bought to make French Limited, a commercial waste disposal site that burned waste and deposited about 300,000 cubic yards in a lagoon. When Barrett Station and Crosby residents complained of the stench, the Texas Water Development Board required French Limited to apply for a waste-control permit. After three years of negotiations a permit was granted with provisions that the company never achieved. The permit was cancelled in 1971 and the company was sued for noncompliance and the state took the site.

Continue reading...Local Superfund sites await funding resolve

Divers recover body of driver of semi that plunged off I-10 into the River

July 11, 2019
THE FRAME AND CAB OF THE SEMI truck that plunged into the San Jacinto River last Thursday, June 26 are lifted by a crane on a work barge on Saturday morning. The barge came from T&T Salvage in Galveston, and was required because the bridge and the nearby Waste Pits Superfund site were not suitable for this type of heavy lifting. (Photo by Harris County Sheriff’s Department)

EAST HARRIS COUNTY – For the third time in the last two months, a vehicle has plunged over the side of a highway bridge, and the occupant was killed.

The most recent event occurred Wednesday, July 3 on the I-610 East Loop bridge over the Houston Ship Channel. Authorities reported that an 18-wheeler swerved to miss a car that had cut in front of him, and crashed through the railing and fell 150 to land on the buildings below. Emergency responders attempted to remove the driver from the wreckage, but he was pinned upside down and died at the scene. The driver of the truck was not immediately identified. His rig landed on top of some industrial buildings of Huntsman Chemical Company. They said that no plant employees were injured, but that operations were stopped due to a sanitary sewer line that was severed and leaking. Some traffic lanes on the bridge were closed, as TxDOT studied how to repair the railing.

This fatal accident followed by only a week a similar accident on the I-10 bridge over the San Jacinto River, when an 18-wheeler struck a stopped car and then plummeted over the rail and into the river.

Continue reading...Divers recover body of driver of semi that plunged off I-10 into the River