A conceptual design of the Houston Ship Channel Barrier

The frequency of hurricanes along any 80 km segment of the Coast of Texas is about 1 in 6 years (Roth,2009). On average, 4 major hurricanes (category 3 or higher) occur every century in the Houston-Galveston Region (Needham and Keim, 2011). In addition, the region is very vulnerable: Houston is the fourth biggest city in the US, over 6 million...

The Bolivar Roads Surge Barrier: A conceptual design for the environmental section

In response to the devastation caused by Hurricane Ike to the Galveston Bay Area, Texas, United States in September 2008, several proposals emerged to protect the region against future storm surges. One of them is a coastal spine called the ’Ike Dike’. A challenge for this 160 km [100 mi] long flood protection is to cross Bolivar Roads, a 2.8 km...