Great Lakes gains $70 million Texas project

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corp., a large provider of dredging services based in Oak Brook, announced the receipt of a $69.8 million award on the San Jacinto River in Houston, Texas.

This challenging project is the first major Houston-area flood-control project after Hurricane Harvey and will restore a 2 milelong stretch of the San Jacinto River to its pre-Harvey state. After the storm passed and flooding subsided, a sandbar remained blocking an important drainage route. The state of Texas requested emergency assistance from FEMA which then chose to use the expertise of the United States Army Corps of Engineers Galveston District to manage the project. This project is one step in the local, state and federal governments' efforts to reduce the risk of flooding in this community.

Great Lakes' Rivers and Lakes division will work with the Galveston District to dredge approximately 1.8 million cubic yards of material and has already begun mobilizing for this high priority project which will feature multiple portable dredges and booster pumps as well as 10 miles of slurry pipelines. Great Lakes will partner with Callan Marine of Galveston which will provide one of the dredges for the project.

Dredging President David Simonelli said "We are excited to work with the Galveston District and Callan Marine on this important project to improve the San Jacinto River capacity after the devastation brought by Hurricane Harvey and the corresponding flooding. This project is ideally suited for our Rivers and Lakes division and will keep our equipment busy into the second quarter of 2019. In addition to the recent awards announced last week, this project helps us to maintain our position as the nation's leading dredging contractor."