GULF INTRACOASTAL WATERWAY (GALVESTON DISTRICT), TEXAS (Guadalupe RIVER CHANNEL TO VICTORIA, TEX.) (Continuing) Location. The channel to Victoria extends from Intracoastal Waterway main channel in San Antonio Bay to near Victoria, Tex., a distance of about 35 miles, with a connecting side channel to Seadrift at mile 6.5. Authorization.-1945 and 1962 River and Harbor Acts. Benefit-cost ratio.-1.9 to 1. 1 In addition, local interests have incurred costs estimated at $4,500,000 in complying with requirements of local cooperation for previous work on Gulf Intracoastal Waterway projects. PHYSICAL DATA Channels: Victoria, 9 feet deep, 100 feet wide, and 35 miles long. Seadrift, 9 feet deep, 100 feet wide, and 2.3 miles long. Turning basins: Seadrift, 10 feet deep, 300 by 500 feet. Victoria, 10 feet deep, 400 by 650 feet to 1,150 feet. Relocations: MP Railroad (mainline bridge, mile 29.2). Status (Jan. 1, 1964).-Side channel to Seadrift, Completed. Victoria, 48 percent complete.1 Completion schedule.-March 1965. JUSTIFICATION Channel to The Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (Galveston District portion) serves the needs of barge commerce and small craft between Orange, Tex., and the Mexican border. In 1962, the commerce moving in the sections of the waterway in Texas totaled 37,586,093 tons. The Guadalupe River channel to Victoria is an important feeder channel to the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway and furnishes an outlet for barge commerce originating at Seadrift, Victoria, and points on the Guadalupe River. Industrial plants of Du Pont and the Union Carbide and Chemicals Corp are located on the channel. Additional commerce which will originate on the channel is estimated at 2,170,000 tons, and consists of petroleum products, shell, gravel, sand, oil well supplies, and petrochemical intermediates. In 1962, 419,754 tons of commerce moved over the completed lower 14-mile reach of the channel. $692, 000 Fiscal year 1965.-The requested amount of $2,955,000 will be used as follows: Complete construction MP RR bridge (mile 29.2). Complete construction of channel to Victoria.. Supervision and administration___ Total 2, 175, 400 87, 600 2, 955, 000 Funds requested for fiscal year 1965 are required to complete the project. Local interests under a Department of the Army permit, completed the lower 14-mile reach in June 1955 except for the westerly connecting channel at the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway main channel in San Antonio Bay. Completed modifications Work completed consists of a main channel, 12 feet deep and 125 feet wide, from near Orange, Tex., to the Mexican border; a railroad bridge across Mud Bayou at High Island; Port Bolivar dike; Brazos River floodgates; Colorado River locks; Port O'Connor jetties; tributary channels 9 feet deep to Palacios, Aransas Pass, and Rockport; tributary channel 12 feet deep to Port Mansfield; shallow-draft channels 6 and 12 feet deep at Port Isabel; a tributary channel 9 feet deep in the lower 26 miles of the San Bernard River; a 12-foot channel in the Arroyo Colorado from the main channel to 5 miles below Harlingen; widening of the Aransas Pass tributary channel from 100 to 125 feet, with a depth of 12 feet; realinement of main channel along north shore of Aransas Bay from Rockport, Tex., via town of Aransas Pass, Tex., to Corpus Christi Bay, a distance of about 17.2 miles; construction of a 16 by 14 foot channel to Port Mansfield, Tex.; and a 9 by 100 foot tributary channel in the Colorado River from Matagorda upstream a distance of 17 miles. The cost of this completed work is $33,624,700. Remaining authorized modifications The 1954 River and Harbor Act authorized a harbor of refuge at Seadrift, Tex., 9 feet deep, 200 by 1,000 feet, and a 9-foot approach channel, at an estimated cost of $91,000 (1956 prices). This improvement is in the inactive category. Construction of the upper 31⁄2 miles of the 9-foot tributary channel in the San Bernard River, as authorized in the 1938 River and Harbor Act, and a 6-foot channel into Barroom Bay near Port O'Connor, as authorized in the 1945 River and Harbor Act, are in the inactive category. Estimated cost of inactive work is $231,000 (1954 prices). Construction of the upper 5 miles of the 12-foot channel to Harlingen, as authorized in the 1945 River and Harbor Act has been deferred for restudy. Estimated cost of this deferred work is $1,814,000 (1954 prices). The 1962 River and Harbor Act authorized a 12- by 125-foot improvement in the tributary channel to Palacios, Tex. The estimated Federal (Corps of Engineers) cost of work under this modification is $830,000 (1963 prices). The 1962 River and Harbor Act authorized improvements in the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, Texas section, as follows: (a) A channel 16 by 150 feet through the reach from Sabine River to the Houston ship channel. (b) A channel of 12 by 125 feet through the relocated channel in Matagorda Bay (mile 454.3 and mile 471.3). (c) A channel of 12 by 125 feet through the relocated channel in Corpus Christi Bay (mile 539.4 and mile 549.7). (d) A channel of 12 by 125 feet to be maintained through the existing 12-by 125-foot Lydia Ann Channel between Aransas Bay and Aransas Pass. The estimated Federal (Corps of Engineers) cost of this improvement is $6,200,000 (1963 prices). Non-Federal costs.-The cost to local interests of complying with the requirements of local cooperation as set forth in the authorizing legislation is $4,896,000 consisting of $1,963,000 for construction; $1,208,000 for payments for lands and damages; and $1,725,000 for relocations. Local interests have also incurred costs estimated at $4,500,000 in complying with the requirements of local cooperation for previous work on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway project. Status of local cooperation. The Victoria and West Side Calhoun County Navigation Districts on August 22, 1956 jointly adopted a resolution assuring the United States that the requirements of local cooperation would be fulfilled. Local interests have furnished approximately 88 percent of the lands needed for the entire project. All lands required for work underway, and to be started in fiscal year 1965, are scheduled to be furnished in fiscal year 1964. Both navigation districts in December 1962 passed resolutions stating that they will provide necessary local cooperation within the confines and limits of their respective territorial authorities. Comparison of Federal cost estimates.-The current Federal cost estimate (Corps of Engineers) of $8,500,000 is unchanged from the latest estimate submitted to Congress. 32-218-64-pt. 1——-17 Project cost estimate Summary construction program (PB-1), fiscal years 1964 and 1965 Item HOUSTON SHIP CHANNEL, TEXAS, 40-FOOT PROJECT (Continuing) Location.-Houston ship channel extends from Galveston Harbor Channel in Bolivar Roads, through Galveston Bay, San Jacinto River, and Buffalo Bayou to Houston, Tex., a distance of about 50 miles. Authorization.-1958 River and Harbor Act. 1 In addition, local interests expended $7,715,000 including local contributions of $1,365,000 in complying with requirements of local cooperation for previous work accomplished on Houston ship channel. Also local interests have invested over $30,000,000 for construction of docks, wharves, transit sheds, access roads, railroads, and other public facilities. Channels: PHYSICAL DATA Bend easing: 31,900 linear feet. Widening (to 400 feet): 23,500 linear feet. Deepening to 40 feet: 49 miles. Turning basins: Hunting Bayou: 40 by 900 by 1,250 feet. Clinton Island: 40 by 500 by 900 feet. Status (January 1, 1964).—40-foot project, 59-percent complete. JUSTIFICATION Houston ship channel is a deepwater navigation project serving the needs of seagoing commerce from Houston, Tex., with terminals located along the 25-mile bayou reach between Morgan Point and Houston turning basin. Area tributary to the waterway produces chiefly lumber, agricultural products, sulphur and petroleum. Major industries include production and refining of petroleum, shipbuilding and repair, steel smelting and fabricating, tin smelting and processing manufacture of cement, building materials, chemicals, synthetic rubber, and processing of agricultural products. Commerce on Houston ship channel increased from 40,825,048 tons in 1950 to 58,604,886 tons in 1962, a rise of over 44 percent attributable to industrial expansion and vigorous local sponsorship. Houston ship channel is very tortuous with probably the greatest angularity per mile of any of the world's major waterways. Bend easing and widening are necessary to reduce hazards to navigation and minimize difficulties of negotiating the bends with larger vessels. Deepening to 40 feet is necessary to accommodate the larger tankers which cannot use the channel fully loaded and must resort to partial loadings. Fiscal year 1965.-Requested amount of $3,200,000 will be used on the modification as follows: Complete contract Morgan Point to Carpenters Bayou (deepen to Initiate contract Carpenters Bayou to Greens Bayou (40 feet). Total.... $300,000 1, 350, 000 1, 360, 000 190, 000 3,200,000 Funds requested for fiscal year 1965 will be required to provide an orderly and economical rate of construction with completion in fiscal year 1966. Completed modifications Work completed consists of the following: (a) A 34-foot channel extending from Bolivar Roads at Galveston, Tex., to terminals at the Port of Houston at a Federal cost of $9,932,000. (b) A 10-foot channel behind Brady Island completed at Federal cost of $28,000, (c) A 36-foot channel extending from Bolivar Roads to terminals at Houston. Tex., at a Federal (Corps of Engineers) cost of $7,650,000. (d) A shallow-draft channel at Turkey Bend in Houston, Tex., at a Federal (Corps of Engineers) cost of $28,000. (e) Shallow-draft improvement of Five Mile Cut in Galveston Bay at Federal (Corps of Engineers) cost of $57,000. Remaining authorized modifications None. Non-Federal costs.-The cost to local interests of complying with requirements of local cooperation as set forth in the authorizing legislation for the modification is $1,799,000. This cost to local interests consists of payments for acquisition of rights-of-way for widening and bend easing, acquisition of spoil area easements, and alteration of utilities and structures. Local interests have also incurred $7,715,000 including local contribution of $1,365,000 in complying with requirements of local cooperation for previous work accomplished on Houston ship channel. In addition, local interests have invested over $30 million for construction of docks, wharves, transit sheds, access roads and railroads, and other public facilities between Morgan Point and Houston turning basin. Status of local cooperation.-Local interests sponsoring the project are represented by Harris County Houston Ship Channel Navigation District. The navigation district has furnished the necessary assurances and has shown a very cooperative attitude. Local interests are acquiring the rights-of-way for the widening, the realinement, and the curve easing for the project. All rights-of-way and spoil disposal easements required for the budget year work will be acquired in fiscal year 1964. By resolution, dated August 5, 1959, the Harris County Houston ship channel Navigation District furnished the assurances required by the authorizing legisla tion. By letter, dated February 5, 1960, the navigation district reaffirmed the resolution of August 5, 1959. Comparison of Federal cost estimates-40-foot project.-The current Federal cost estimate (Corps of Engineers) of $16 million is a decrease of $3,190,000 over the latest estimate ($19,190,000) submitted to Congress. The decrease results from more detailed design and the receipt of favorable bids. Summary construction program (PB−1), fiscal years 1964 and 1965 PORT ARANSAS-CORPUS CHRISTI WATERWAY, TEX. (40-FOOT PROJECT), Gulf OF MEXICO TO VIOLA TURNING BASIN (Continuing) Location.-Main channel extending from Gulf of Mexico via Aransas Pass to terminals at Corpus Christi, Tule Lake, and Viola, Tex., a distance of about 33 miles. Authorization.-1958 River and Harbor Act. 1 In addition, local interests have expended approximately $3,000,000 for waterway improvements in the project area. Also local interests have invested $10,690,000 for construction of a grain elevator, bulk materials ore dock, and public harbor facilities on the waterway. |