How's Bayou?

Corps of Engineers Progressing on Houston Flood Control Project

By Eileen Schwartz

Skeptics might say that the long-awaited Sims Bayou Flood Control Project-approved in 1986 and started in 1994-is proceeding at a snail's pace.

But look at it this way: The much-needed, $350 million project in the shadow of Houston's towering downtown skyline is about 50 percent complete, and already it is providing welcome flood protection for some residents, opening new hike and bike trails and creating green habitats.

Ten miles of the once-narrow, serpentine bayou-from the mouth of Sims Bayou to Cullen Boulevard-have now been enlarged and otherwise enhanced to provide greater flood abatement. The ultimate goal of the project, scheduled for completion in 2009, is to improve 19.3 mi. of the bayou from its mouth at the Houston Ship Channel to Croquet Street and replace or modify 20 bridges along the way.

Once this is accomplished, "approximately 3,500 existing homes and 2,000 existing commercial structures will no longer be in the 1 percent (100-year) flood plain," Alisa Max, project engineer for the Harris County Flood Control District, said in a recent progress report.

Max said the channel improvements are going forth in a manner that protects and enhances the environment. For example, she said that articulated concrete blocks that allow grass and other vegetation to flourish are used in lieu of traditional concrete.

"Instead of a trapezoidal channel, the new sections of Sims Bayou have shelves creating plateaus, varying water widths and varying side slopes, creating a more naturalistic feel," she added. Max predicted that this once-neglected south Houston area will soon emerge as an "environmentally sensitive, aesthetically pleasing and publicly acceptable" neighborhood.

The plan has already proved its worth, said Lizette Richardson, Sims Bayou project manager in the Galveston office of the Army Corps of Engineers, which is managing the project. Richardson said that when Tropical Storm Allison hit the area in 2001, the half-finished project helped detain the waters in the Sims Bayou watershed "and avoided approximately $200 million in damages."

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The local media have largely ignored recent developments along the bayou. Michael deMasi, project engineer with the Galveston district of the Army Corps of Engineers, said the reason is the belief that "no news is good news."

"Every once in a while there will be a little blip in the newspaper about Sims, about more money or something like that," deMasi said. "But other than that, everything's going so smoothly, it's not a big news story unless somebody's getting flooded."

At a section of the bayou just downstream from State Highway 288, where construction was recently centered, deMasi pointed to some nearby hike and bike trails already finished and being used. "They are not tied into anything right now, except for a couple of streets," he added. "Eventually they will go from downstream to Interstate 45 for about 19 mi. and tie in to all of the parks along the trail."

He pointed out the aesthetic touches that have been an integral part of the project. "We're putting in a lot of trees to make the area more environmentally sensitive," he said. "Another feature is a deep fish pond. In the summer when the water gets low, it gets real hot and this is bad for the fish, turtles, snakes and alligators. So we put in these deep areas where the animals can find cool water."

DeMasi said the improvement is taking a long time because of its "sheer size," which involves, for starters, 2 million cu. yds. of excavation, 1.6 million sq. ft. of interlocking articulated concrete blocks, extensive new wetlands and recreational facilities, all the bridge replacements and the relocation of two railroads.

He said funding problems have also slowed progress. "It is a known fact that projects for the Corps of Engineers or for any government agency take a long time," he added. "It takes year after year for Congress to appropriate funds. You then have to work with the locals and environmental agencies. All those pieces have to come together before a project even gets awarded."

A data sheet circulated last year by the Galveston office of the corps underscored existing funding problems. It credits U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee, who represents the district in which Sims Bayou lies, with pushing hard for optimal funding. "However," it adds, "the current federal budget ceilings lengthen the construction period resulting in an estimated project completion of September 2009."

The Sims Bayou flood control project was originally authorized in 1986 under federal flood control legislation. But environmentalists and others opposed the original plans, which called for simply deepening the channel and lining it with concrete.

Opponents wanted less concrete and more landscaping. Led by the Sims Bayou coalition, a local environmental group, a plan was developed with wider and deeper channels that would detain stormwater rather than shunt it into the Houston Ship Channel. The plan also devised ways for protecting and enriching the area's natural beauty.

New design plans were drawn and a new cooperation agreement was signed in 1990 by the Corps of Engineers and the Harris County Flood Control District, the nonfederal sponsor. This agreement was modified in 1992 and construction finally started in 1994 with an initial completion date of 2006.

The original estimated cost of $244 million has grown to nearly $350 million, and it probably will ratchet up again. Eleven major contractors and numerous subcontractors have been involved in the Sims Bayou project, with Lecon Inc. of Houston getting the lion's share of the awards.

Top players also include E.R.H. Garver and Midwest Construction of Nebraska.

DeMasi said Lecon has an advantage because of its Houston base. "The out-of-state contractors may not know the Houston connections," he added. "They have to do a lot of work on their own getting permits and going through the city of Houston to get things done."

The disputes that marked the beginning of flood control on the Sims Bayou are apparently all water under the bridge now. DeMasi and others said city, state, county and federal officials are working in harmony with concerned private citizens.

"We've worked a lot with the Sims Bayou environmental organizations and done a lot of things they wanted us to do, like planting wildflowers in some of the reaches at the right times of the year," deMasi said. He added that the environmentalists helped the corps decide what native trees to use and where to plant them.

"All that had to be in conjunction with the intent of the project, which was to get the water off," he said. "They worked with our hydrology and hydraulics people to figure out how many trees you could put in a certain length of the bayou where it wouldn't affect how much water would run off."

The bayou is "probably a lot greener" than it would have been without the input of the environmentalists, deMasi said. "Otherwise, it might be a big concrete channel."