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Texas Takes [Construction] Aim at Coastal Risks

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damage from Hurricane Ike

Devastation to the most vulnerable upper Texas coastal areas caused by Hurricane Ike in 2008—$29 billion in damage and a lingering economic drain of $142 billion—was the wake-up call to six county judges to come up with a defensive solution.

In late June, the officials, who run the Gulf Coast Community Protection and Recovery District, will recommend long-studied options to the state that will include a floodgate-and-barrier system on Galveston Bay—dubbed the “coastal spine” or “Ike dike”—that could cost up to $11 billion and take until 2035 to complete.

“We know that building any structure is cheaper than damage from another storm,” says district President Robert Eckels.

With a $4-million state grant, the district developed a series of options that range from a $1.9-billion enhancement of the existing protection system in the Freeport-Angleton-Lake Jackson area to an 840-ft floating sector gate sunk 60 ft across the Houston Ship Channel to protect the nation’s largest refining and petrochemical complex nearby.

It would require 25 vertical-lift gates to maintain the environmental flow to the region’s bay and estuary system. Construction is estimated at $5.8 billion.

The next steps include refining the cost estimates and environmental studies, Eckels says.

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