USACE Contract for Stantec-Jacobs

Stantec and Jacobs, operating as the Galveston Coastal Services Joint Venture, has been selected by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Galveston District, to design a 26.7-mile-long levee and floodwall system along the coastline near Galveston, Texas.

Image source: Stantec

The eight-year, $1.9 billion construction effort, known as the Orange County Coastal Storm Risk Management (Orange), will increase the area’s preparedness to respond to natural disasters and disturbances.

According to their official release, the scheme will also increase resistance to long-term impacts due to climate change – including sea level rise, land subsidence, increased frequency of abnormally heavy rainfall events, and regional drought.

Orange consists of seven design packages for coastal storm risk management from the edge of the Sabine and Neches River floodplains to the vicinity of Orangefield, Texas.

The project will include:

  • 15.6 miles of new levees,
  • 10.7 miles of new concrete floodwalls and gates,
  • 7 new pump stations to mitigate interior flooding during surge events,
  • 453 acres of marsh restored through a mitigation plan, and
  • 560 acres of forested wetlands preserved.

Also encompassing navigable sector gates to reduce surge penetration, this project is one of many coastal storm risk management measures for the region designed to combat these increasingly frequent historical storm conditions.