Houston – Galveston Ship Channel Dredging Project

The 50-mile Houston-Galveston Navigation Channel (HGNC), which extends from the Gulf of Mexico and across Galveston Bay, is arguably one of the busiest in the U.S., and perhaps the world. It services a massive port complex that is an integral hub for the energy and chemical industries, along with significant import and export volumes of various other cargoes and commodities. To keep this shipping artery operating at full capacity, GLDD performs regular maintenance dredging projects in the channel. GLDD’s hopper dredges, which have conducted work from the Gulf of Mexico entrance to as far as the Bayport Flare junction, provide important versatility to dredge among the concentrations of ship traffic in the busy channel. GLDD’s hopper dredges have also been important tools to enable the beneficial use of the sand materials dredged from certain reaches of the HGNC, transporting and placing the beach-quality sand onto the shores of Galveston Island. GLDD’s large cutter-suction dredges work in the deep draft channel, where dredged materials have been beneficially discharged into contained areas that transform over time into ecological marsh areas within Galveston Bay.