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June 30 2024
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Vol. IX • No. 13
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Dealing With Disaster Knife River Corporation, TxDOT Make Swift Repairs After Flood Damage By Irwin Rapoport
Over the last few months, Texas has experienced severe weather, heavy rain and flooding throughout many parts of the state that has general contractors out in full force helping conduct repairs, clear debris and restoring damaged infrastructure. Statewide, between May 1 to May 21, there were 736 roads closed due to flooding and 135 locations had flood-related damages. “The flooding washed out or collapsed complete sections of roadways in some areas,” said Adam Hammons, a TxDOT manager. “When that happens, crews quickly work with state partners to close the road and let everyone know as soon as possible. TxDOT then coordinates a detour and works on repairs.” For example, one of the biggest incidents of road damage occurred in the Beaumont District at the FM 787 bridge at the Trinity River, where the western approach slab collapsed due to undermining. The damaged section was wide and deep, leading to an immediate road closure to allow for repairs. The Houston, Waco and Bryan districts also experienced damages that will require construction crews to make swift repairs. “Our crews did an incredible job, working through multiple storms over the month of May and late April,” said TxDOT Emergency Management Coordinator Matthew Heinze. “We had multiple districts responding to storms with hundreds of personnel working on repairs, clearing debris and monitoring roads.” In Houston, TxDOT and its crews were able to clear debris and help repair and restore power to parts of the state. “Our crews are working diligently to restore our traffic signals and efforts to recover to normal operations across the Houston District, including Harris, Montgomery, Fort Bend and Waller counties,” said Eliza Paul, the TxDOT Houston District engineer said. “To expedite restoration TxDOT is leveraging our forces to get our system up and operating.” While the Houston area has essentially recovered, other areas are in more dire situations as other parts of the state are still recovering from flooding. TxDOT crews remain out on the roads monitoring the situation, clearing debris, repairing damages and helping keep drivers safe.
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Extensive flooding over the past few months has resulted in construction crews conducting repairs, restoring damaged infrastructure and clearing massive amounts of debris throughout many parts of the state.
“It’s been a long couple weeks for communities impacted by these storms,” said Heinze. “We are here to help in any way we can and our crews out there work hard to help ensure roads are clear and safe to drive.” One of those crews is Knife River Corportation, who was brought in to make repairs in the Bryan District. In Bryan, several sections of the FM 1374 in Walker County were affected with washed out roads, landslides adjacent to roads, flooded sections, damaged storm drains and the edges of lanes where the base was seriously damaged and nearly washed away. There also were sections of lane edges that just broke off. Immediate efforts to deal with the damage utilized small excavators and loaders to carry debris. Fortunately, no one was injured via the damage in Walker County. see DISASTER page 14
Knife River Corporation has been making repairs at FM 1374 in Walker County, where the county has experienced washed out roads, landslides adjacent to roads, flooded sections, damaged storm drains and the edges of lanes where the base was seriously damaged and nearly washed away.
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