All Set for ‘Mouth Bar’ Dredging

The City of Houston, Texas, has issued a  Notice To Proceed (NTP)  for debris removal services, specifically large silt deposits at the confluence of the West Fork of the San Jacinto River and Lake Houston, commonly referred to as the “mouth bar”.

The City, through its contractor DRC Emergency Services, LLC (DRC), will begin mechanical dredging of the mouth bar this week.

The total cost for this project is $40 million dollars, which is funded through a combination of City of Houston Harvey Disaster dollars provided by Governor Greg Abbott, grant dollars from the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB), and funding from the Harris County Flood Control District(HCFCD) Bond Program.

DRC will complete the scope of work for dredging activities in two distinct phases.

The first phase will remove accumulated materials near and at the mouth bar on the West Fork of the San Jacinto River, and the second phase will remove accumulated materials in the East Fork of the San Jacinto River and other locations in Lake Houston.

During phase one of this project it is expected that a minimum of 400,000 cubic yards (CY) of material will be removed over twelve months.

Phase two of the project will consist of:

• Harris County completing hydrographic surveys of the West Fork of the San Jacinto River, the East Fork of the San Jacinto River, and Lake Houston to determine dredge material volumes;
• the City of Houston advertising and awarding a dredging contract to the lowest responsive bidder;
• Harris County designating the City of Houston as a sub-recipient for the cost of the dredging contract.

Phase two will run simultaneously with Phase One.