West Fork dredging about to begin

Mobilization for the next phase of San Jacinto West Fork dredging is underway. The City of Houston and its contractor DRC (a subsidiary of Callan Marine) are already staging equipment in two places on the West Fork, Reduce Flooding reports .

photo courtesy of Reduce Flooding

This program, funded by FEMA, is set to remove an estimated 800,000 cubic yards of silt and sediment between the original location of the West Fork Mouth Bar and FM1960.

The contractor will use primarily hydraulic dredging and the program is scheduled take approximately two years, according to District E City Council Member Fred Flickinger.

They will attack the area between where the mouth bar was (south of Scenic Shores in Kings Point) and the FM1960 Bridge,” said Reduce Flooding.

Dredging is only one part of a multi-faceted mitigation program that also includes more upstream detention and new floodgates on the Lake Houston dam.