Silver Award for RPS Texas Gulf Coast Report

RPS’ Houston-based infrastructure team has garnered a Silver Medal in the American Council of Engineering Companies ‘Texas Engineering Excellence Awards 2017’ for its environmental report submitted as part of the Gulf Coast Community Protection and Recovery District’s (GCCPRD) monumental Storm Surge Suppression Study.

The GCCPRD initiated its Storm Surge Suppression Study in the fall of 2014 to investigate the feasibility of reducing the vulnerability of the upper Texas coast to storm surge and flood damage.

Our engineers were engaged to analyze the environmental constraints of the region as a key part of the study. The environmental report entailed a data-intensive and technology-intensive process to produce more than 40 maps illustrating environmental constraints over 4,300 square miles. The maps detailed wetlands, threatened and endangered species habitats, floodplains, coastal barriers, essential fish habitat, historic sites, wildlife refuges and state parks, hazardous materials, contaminated sites, water quality and tidal flow.

The massive environmental evaluation played an essential role in formulating a cutting-edge solution that will help protect essential infrastructure and the people of the six-county area, while ensuring sustainability for Galveston Bay. Once constructed, storm surge protection will include a structure only found in one other location worldwide and nowhere else yet in North America.