Houston-Galveston Navigation Channels, Texas Project: Navigation Channel Sedimentation Study, Phase 1

摘要

The U.S. Army Engineer District, Galveston, has recently enlarged the Houston Ship Channel from a 40-ft (12.2-m) depth by 400-ft (122-m) width to a 45-ft (13.7-m) depth by 530-ft (162-m) width. Previously, a three-dimensional (3-D) numerical model study was implemented at the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center's Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory to evaluate the salinity and circulation impact of this enlargement. The enlarged channel is nearly complete. Preliminary evaluations indicate a higher than anticipated rate of deposition in the channel reach near Atkinson Island. The purpose of this investigation was to determine if this new shoaling rate was a permanent feature of this new channel or a single anomalous event. If this considerably larger deposition is a permanent condition then the planned disposal locations must be expanded. The project will determine the possible effects on sedimentation in the channel based on dredging records, field data, vessel effects, and hydrodynamic changes due to the channel's enlargement.