Bay City Tribune

A $21 million project to construct a new East Jetty and channel realignment at the mouth of Colorado River is among 20 projects the Galveston District Army Corps of Engineer announced Tuesday that will be funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

Bids on the project that will reduce dredging frequency, cut channel maintenance costs and improve navigation safety will be opened and awarded by late July, said Mike Griffith, chairman of the Port of Bay City Authority.

"Hopefully, construction can start by the end of summer or early fall," he said.

"It's a great feeling," said Griffith. The Corps' announcement tops five to six years of work by the port authority and local officials to secure a project to reopen the river mouth.

Local officials first consulted with federal officials in Washington, D.C. on the project, then the port authority designated $1.3 million for a long-term solution to the silting of the river channel's entrance, Griffith said.

That money came from $2.3 million in federal funds to dredge the river's mouth following hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005 - an amount Griffith said the port authority's board determined wouldn't cover the dredging costs, nor provide more than a temporary fix to the silting problem.

Instead, the port authority used the money for project-related engineering studies on water circulation - conducted at the Corps' experiment station - and to draft plans and specifications for the jetty work plus an 18-month-long environmental assessment.

"Without having done a lot of work on this," the project would not have gotten Corps of Engineer approval, Griffith noted.

That's because federal stimulus money requirements call for projects to be obligated and executed quickly.

The proposed new jetty will be about 2,750 feet long, in three segments constructed of varied rock sizes, according to Corps specifications.

The landward segment, roughly 550 feet long, would be built on top of the existing west jetty at the mouth. The middle segment, about 700 feet long, would angle to the southwest toward the west jetty and would be constructed on land.

The 1,500-foot-long seaward segment would be constructed parallel to the west jetty, with a portion on land and the remainder in the water.

The existing east jetty will remain in place but the authorized entrance channel - now completely filled in and migrated to the west - would be reconstructed between the new east jetty and the existing west jetty.

"These Recovery Act funds for our civil works projects represent a great opportunity for both the local communities and the Corps," said Colonel David C. Weston, Galveston District commander. "We're doing our part in order to help stimulate the nation's economy through projects that will bring lasting benefits to our Texas coastal areas."