INVESTIGATION INTO HOUSTON SHIP CHANNEL SHOALING AT THE BAYPORT FLARE IN GALVESTON BAY

Sedimentation at the confluence of Houston and Bayport Ship Channels (Bayport Flare) in Upper Galveston Bay, along Gulf Coast Texas, USA, is a costly issue requiring frequent dredging. Hydrodynamic sediment dynamic processes particularly around Flare, are being explored using measurements from vessel mounted fixed Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers (ADCP), Optical Backscatter Sensors (OBS), Tilt Meters (TCM), as well densely spaced surface grab samples, core salinity profiles. These field used to assess causes extremely high sedimentation rates (approximately 30 cm per year based on dredging records between 2013 2017) seen Flare. The effect flocculation particles near ship channels also through laboratory experimentation.