The Ike Dike A Coastal Barrier Protecting the Houston/GalvestonA Coastal Barrier Region from Protecting the Houston/GalvestonHurricane Region from HurricaneStorm Storm Surge Surge The Houston/Galveston Region Nationally-important population and economic Center Considerable infrastructure near sea level with storm surges channeled up the Bay Supports largest petrochemical complex in US Port of Houston alone generates over $178 Billion in economic activity annually Galveston Bay provides valuable ecosystem services Affected by a major storm about every 15 years Large-scale evacuations are increasingly difficult, especially for Hurricanes that quickly increase in intensity and/or change direction Hurricane Rita killed three people. The three day mass evacuation 1932leading up hurricane to Rita's landfall killedimage 108. If farther west, many more lives lost, much more damage Dutch Delta Commission Considered Two Major Options Continue building and strengthening internal dikes/barriers Shorten the surge defense needed with a coastal spine Start of Gate Closing Texas Delegation Eastern Scheldt Barrier A giant engineering structure, The Eastern Scheldt storm surge barrier ('Oosterscheldekering'), was completed in 1986 and is part of the 'Deltaworks' started after the 1953 flood. The barrier has 62 steel doors each 140 feet wide. They are normally open but are closed when there is a North Sea high water level alert. The door gates slide between big concrete pillars, each one up to 130 feet high. The barrier consists of three parts between artificially created islands. When open, the gates allow water exchange between the North Sea and the estuary assuring a healthy bay. These gates, like much of the Deltaworks, are major tourist attractions. The Netherlands Storm Surge Barrier in Action The Ike Dike strategy is to keep the ocean surge out of Galveston Bay by using a gated coastal barrier Houston Ship Channel High Island Bolivar Roads Existing Seawall Intracoastal Waterway Coastal Spine • San Luis Pass The first component of the Ike Dike already exists – the Galveston Seawall Houston Ship Channel High Island Bolivar Roads Existing Seawall Intracoastal Waterway • San Luis Pass The second component - Land Extensions of the protection afforded by the Seawall Houston Ship Channel High Island Bolivar Roads Existing Seawall Intracoastal Waterway • San Luis Pass Revetments can be hidden to look natural The third component – Flood Gates Houston Ship Channel High Island Bolivar Roads Existing Seawall Intracoastal Waterway San Luis Pass Possible New York Barrier Dutch Deltaworks and the Ike Dike ¾ Shorten the coast as much as possible ¾ Keep the surge out of internal waters ¾ Use surge gates to accomplish the above ¾ And to allow for ship traffic ¾ And to preserve marine ecosystem function Ike Dike Additional Characteristics ‐1 y System can be leaky - unlike New Orleans, Holland y Can use Galveston Bay as a retention pond y Only needs to hold maximum surge for a few hours y Doesn’t harm neighboring communities y Doesn’t lead to a race for more and higher dikes Proposed revetment Ike Dike Additional Characteristics ‐2 y Stops the Surge at the coast where it’s the smallest y Protects strategic assets of national importance y Protects Bay’s Natural Resources y Occupies the minimum foot print for comprehensive protection y Protects every community – rich or poor y Entire region Proposed revetment recovers quickly A Coastal Spine Suppresses Surge and is Technically Feasible Economically Sound Environmentally Friendly, and Socially Just It Should Be the Cornerstone of Our Surge Suppression Strategy Research Team Economics – Institute for Regional Forecasting at UH, Dr Bill Gilmer Modeling – Homeland Security Center of Excellence at Jackson State, Dr Robert Whalin and Dr Ty Wamsley, USACE/Eng Research & Dev Ctr Barrier Design – Delft Technical University, Drs. Bas Jonkman and Mathijs van Ledden Overall Flood Risk Reduction/Project Coordination – TAMUG, Drs. Sam Brody and Bill Merrell Research Approach/Schedule Economic Study ASAP Modeling to Inform Economic Study and Barrier Design – Dutch Dialogues And to Understand Galveston Bay’s Roles Test Barrier Conceptual Designs Better Cost Estimates Costs/Benefits www.tamug.edu/ikedike The SSPEED Center (Rice University) has proposed a levee structure aligned along SH-146 to protect West Bayshore. The above schematic displays the integration of the levee structure in communities along the coastline La Porte Seabrook Bacliff/San Leon Levee System Ship Channel Gate.