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Harris County Flood Control Tunnel System

PREAMBLE

AscenTrust, LLC., an existing Texas corporation, wholly owned by it's Senior Engineer, will provide the overall Project Management function for the revival of the Harris County Flood District Stormwater Tunnels Project.

In the wake of Hurricane Harvey, Harris County officials challenged the Flood Control District (“the District”) to develop new flood risk reduction tools. Since then, the District has actively explored the potential of utilizing a network of huge, Texas-sized stormwater tunnels as an effective solution to mitigating storm waters in Harris County. The District’s interim deputy director of engineering & construction, Scott Elmer, presented “What We Know, and Where We Are Going” based on the project’s feasibility study at the February Commerce Club.

The second phase of the feasibility study results released last June shows that a potential tunnel system, if added to the existing bayou channels and detention basin network, could be a highly effective option for reducing flooding. The potential eight tunnel locations, known as alignments, identified in the feasibility study represent the foundation of a Harris County tunnel system that could potentially reduce flooding in and around areas designated as damage centers. A damage center is a concentrated area that has and will continue to flood repeatedly, with water in homes and businesses.

Phase 1 of the study confirmed it is potentially possible to construct tunnels in many areas of Harris County. In Phase 2, potential individual tunnel locations, considering various elements such as elevation, community impacts and availability of vacant land for traditional projects were identified. Potential benefits to be gained when tunnel alignments work synergistically with each other rather than independent alignments were also identified. Using a tunnel system in conjunction with the existing drainage system can provide significantly more benefits by allowing the different alignments to reduce the flood risk across multiple watersheds.

Phase 2 also found that tunnels would require the acquisition of much less property, as compared to traditional flood risk reduction projects. Also, because the majority of tunnel construction would happen deep underground, a tunnel may have a flexible alignment that is not tied as closely to a bayou or creek. For example, a tunnel could potentially provide benefits to flood damage centers in more than one watershed.