USACE awards $9.6M contract for Texas bypass channel design

July 27, 2023

The updating and completion of the design of approximately 4,500 feet of bypass channel is part of the larger Modified Central City Project to provide flood risk management functions along the Clear Fork and West Fork of the Trinity River.

Driller Chris Bean waits to receive pipping while Lead Driller Dallas Spencer operates the controls in June while conducting soil borings along the Trinity River near downtown Fort Worth.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Fort Worth District has awarded an architect-engineer contract totaling $9.6 million to complete the design of the south bypass channel in support of the Modified Central City Project.

The work includes updating and completing the design of the south bypass channel, which is approximately 4,500 feet of the overall 8,400 feet of bypass channel.

USACE Fort Worth awarded the contract to CDM-Stanley Joint Venture — the team who previously developed the bypass channel design and piers already under White Settlement Road and Henderson Street bridges.

“With this contract award, we now have the entire bypass channel under design,” said Kalli Egan, USACE program manager. “This is a key milestone for our team that keeps us on a path to deliver on our commitments to our stakeholders.”

The Fort Worth Floodway levees were originally constructed by local community interests in response to flooding events in the early 1900s. This system was modified in the 1950’s and incorporated as a congressionally authorized project. The Fort Worth Floodway is a federally authorized and non-federally operated and maintained, urban flood risk management system.

The current system was constructed in the 1960s. As a result of congressionally authorized floodway studies, it was determined that modifications (as defined by the Modified Central City Project) are required to reduce flood risk.

The project is in Fort Worth, Texas. The Modified Central City Project has various components including an approximate 8,400-foot bypass channel, three isolation gates, and valley storage mitigation sites (Gateway Park, Ham Branch, Riverside Park, Rockwood Park West, Samuels Avenue, and University Drive) to provide flood risk management functions along the Clear Fork and West Fork of the Trinity River.

Additional Trinity River Vision/Central City Project information is available at https://www.swf.usace.army.mil/Missions/Civil-Works/Trinity-River-Central-City/ and https://pantherislandcc.com.