Happy Thursday!
We went to the Greater Houston Port Bureau’s (GHPB) Commerce
Club Luncheon at the Houston Marriot South at Hobby Airport today.
The guest panel had Coalter Baker
(Executive Director) and Roger Guenther (President of the Board of Directors) of
the Gulf Coast Protection District (GCPD)
and Moderated by Bob Sanders (Enterprise Products Partners). The panel was giving us an update on Texas
Coastal Project (Check out details on this group and their mega project on our
blog).
The Gulf Coast Protection
District was created by the 87th Texas Legislature in 2021. Their mission is to protect the upper Texas coast
and the project created to do it is the Texas Coastal Project. This group was created because of Hurricane
Ike and the lives lost and devastation the storm left in its wake, and the more
intense storms the region has been having in recent times. The Texas
Coast Project is a $34 billion project which is being funded through various
sources including the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Texas General Land Office (TXGLO)
and the GCPD (Check out our blog in May 2024, for some details of the
initial funding). The Texas Coastal Project
is a multiple stage project which needed engineers which have different engineering
expertise and two firms were selected for the tasks. Jacobs Engineering is in charge of design for
Ike’s Dike, and HDR is in charge of dunes and beaches or natural areas (See our
Blog in December 2025, for details). The project goal is to mitigate damages from
storm surge and to make us more resilient, and they hope to do this by creating
a protection barrier of manmade and natural elements.
The Galveston Bay Barrier System which
is part of the Texas Coast Project is nicknamed, “Ike’s Dike” this is a major portion
of the project. It is currently estimated
to take seven to ten years to design and ten years to build. The project has selected Jacobs Engineering. Ike’s Dike needs to be buildable, workable,
and navigable for all who rely on the waters and coastline it will protect. The design will include comments from stakeholders
and committees which have be created by the GCPD to aid in helping
create the best gates. The designers
will make a plan based on pros and cons learned from existing gates and levies;
for example, the Netherlands flood gates.
They will get advice from Texas Coastal Research Council who is comprised
of academia (Texas A&M and Rice University) and other government entities for
information they have learned on what does and does not work. Ike Dike will be a group effort and major accomplishment
once completed. Jacobs Engineering is
expected to have a firmer timeline in 2027.
Dunes and beaches are players in
the GCPD plan to make our coastline more resilient. HDR is the engineering firm selected to lead
this part of the project. The current plan is to add 350 feet to the 42-mile Bolivar
Peninsula to help protect the bay from storm surge. The dunes
and beaches are expected to take five years to construct, and they will be
completed first. This is our first line
of defense against storm surge.
The mega project, Texas Coastal
Project, is expected to take twenty-five years or more to complete and needs
funding. The State of Texas has pledge
$1 billion to the project. The U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers has been receiving funding for the project since its 2024
budget (See our Blog for August 2024 for details) and it was noted the project
is a line item in the President’s budget which shows the value and weight the
project has. The question remains where the rest of the funding for the project will come from, and when will it arrive.
For now, the initial funding has been trickling in and GCPD and
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have rolled up their sleeves and are moving
forward for what may be the mega project of the century for the U.S.
GCPD has made on request. They have written a letter for stakeholders
to sign which will be sent out to the Texas Legislature and Congress for
additional funding. Please contact them,
if you would like to sign.
Thank you, Coalter Baker and Roger
Guenther of the Gulf Coast Protection District and moderator, Bob
Sanders of Enterprise Product Partners; we appreciate you spending time to
update us on this important project. Good
luck with the Texas Coastal Project and protecting Texas coastlines and
communities. You were interesting and
informative panel, and we wish you well.
As you see the speakers at the GHPB’s
Commerce Club Luncheons bring an informative talk to all that
attend. The next Commerce Club
Luncheon is on September 10th, 2026, at 11 a.m. at the Houston Marriot
South at Hobby Airport, and it will be an executive panel, and the discussion will
be BayTran’s 5th Annual State of the Ports. Please check out the website, if you would
like to learn more. September 2026 GHPB Commerce Club Luncheon - Greater Houston Port Bureau.
Next month the GHPB’s 97th
Annual Maritime Dinner is scheduled.
If you would like information on, please click the link: 2026 Greater Houston Port Bureau Annual Maritime Dinner - Greater Houston Port Bureau.
If you would like help in
figuring out how to get your product moving with less of a carbon footprint,
contact us via the email on the Blog or give us a call: 281-901-5554. Check out our ESC website!
We hope you have a great and
productive rest your week!