Project description
The third and final phase of the Harris County Flood Control District's $14.4 million W129-00-00 Channel Enclosure Project began construction in 2018 and was acknowledged as substantially complete in April 2020. The project's purpose was to improve the stormwater-carrying capacity and public safety features associated with a poorly functioning drainage channel, formally identified as HCFCD Unit W129-00-00, which runs adjacent to the Union Pacific Railroad tracks just inside West Loop 610.
The Flood Control District recognized the need for repairs to W129-00-00 and launched a three-phase reconstruction project in 2004 to rebuild and partially enclose the channel. Phases one and two included enclosure of the existing drainage channel in dual 12-foot by 10-foot reinforced concrete box culverts from its confluence with Buffalo Bayou downstream to San Felipe Street, and then from San Felipe Street to Richmond Avenue, including the demolition and replacement of 50-year-old bridges that cross the drainage channel at Westheimer Road and at San Felipe Street.
The third and final phase spanned the section of channel between Richmond Avenue and Westpark Drive.