Orion Awarded Contract For Mouth Of Colorado River, Sargent Beach
The Galveston Engineer District, in collaboration with the Texas General Land Office, the Port of Bay City and Matagorda County, announced a contract award worth $83.3 million December 19 for the Mouth of the Colorado River Navigation Channel Maintenance and Sargent Beach Beneficial Use Placement project.
The contract was awarded to Houston-based Orion Government Services LLC to perform maintenance dredging, construction of shoreline protection features and beneficial use placement of dredged material near Sargent, Texas.
Sargent Beach
“Why Sargent, Texas?” asked Galveston District Beneficial Use Operations Manager Rhonda Gregg Hirsch. “This tiny community on the coast boasts one of the highest erosion rates on the entire Texas coast.”
Sargent Beach experiences one of the highest erosion rate areas along Gulf barrier islands. Studies conducted through the 1970s and 1980s indicated that storm surge was threatening to breach the island, potentially impacting the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway. In response, and according to mission requirements of the organization, the Corps constructed an 8-mile revetment wall and dirt road between 1995 and 1998 to safeguard against such breaches.
Storms worsened the erosion. It got so bad that in November 2024, Galveston District and Matagorda County officials indefinitely closed the Sargent Beach West Mooring Dock Park and the Sargent Public Boat Ramp for safety reasons.
The GLO completed the engineering design and permitting for structural solutions and beneficial use of dredged material for beach nourishment, complimenting a study the Corps initiated, Hirsh said.
At the same time, the Galveston District was planning a major maintenance dredging project at the mouth of the Colorado River navigation channel and adjacent sediment basin that would provide beach quality sand for nearby beaches, she said.
“Working together, the Galveston District and the Texas GLO Coastal Erosion Planning and Response Act program brought one of Texas’ largest shoreline protection and beneficial use infrastructure projects—to date—to construction,” said Seth Jones, SWG operations manager for the mouth of the Colorado River. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make a significant impact to stabilize and improve a fragile and critical locale along the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway.”
Mouth Of Colorado River
The federally funded part of the contract—pertaining to the Corps—involves dredging approximately 1,070,000 cubic yards of the mouth of the Colorado River entrance and clearing sediment from the channel impoundment basin.
The GLO-funded part of the work involves construction of a 2,600-foot angled terminal groin at Mitchell’s Cut, five nearshore breakwaters and placement of 1,070,000 cubic yards of dredged sand onto Sargent Beach. The placement of the dredged material onto the beach will begin at Mitchell’s Cut—on Sargent Beach—and stretch east for approximately 3.5 miles.
“As someone who grew up on the Texas Coast, ensuring that these beautiful beaches are strong and resilient is one of my top priorities,” said GLO Commissioner Dawn Buckingham. “The long overdue beach nourishment project, with the additional building of breakwaters, will help stabilize this important stretch of shoreline. I look forward to continuing to work with Matagorda County, the port and the USACE to revitalize Sargent Beach, giving Texans who call it home a place they can enjoy for generations.”
The Galveston District dredges approximately 30 to 40 million cubic yards of material every year. If placed on one city block, the material would create a mountain 14,000 feet above sea level. While undertaking its mission of keeping America’s waterways navigable, the Corps of Engineers is able to turn that into an added benefit for homeowners, tourists and businesses.
Featured image caption: A view of erosion along a roadway at Sargent Beach, Texas, which runs parallel to the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway. (Photo screenshot from a Galveston District video)
