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SAN BERNARD MOUTH - Photo Sun 7Aug22. Vehicles making the trek by beach from Sargent to the mouth of the San Bernard are seen parked on the westerly bank of the river. County Commissioners are saying, “as of current status, the limited permit that exists, is not a valid design and would be a waste of the remaining funds. The path forward is to re-permit the next dredging opportunity per the preferred design that will remove the peninsula sand bars that limit cross flow across the river opening and extend into the Gulf the full 1800 feet. Removing the sand bar peninsula will create an area ‘bell’ that will eliminate the current eddy that redeposits sand into the river channel.”

 

And here's where it comes from...

 

BRAZOS RIVER MOUTH - Photo 7Aug22. Pictured is the new Brazos Delta forming at the mouth of the Brazos River. It is causing sediment transfer through the littoral drift to flow to the mouth of the San Bernard where Gulf waves and tidal forces take over and push the material into the mouth opening. Because of drought conditions, the flow out through the mouth of the San Bernard does not sustain a velocity to move the sediment away.

 

 

 

A. The river closure is caused by three main factors. These include sediment transfer through the littoral drift from the new Brazos Delta, Gulf waves and tidal forces pushing material into the mouth opening and the San Bernard River flow does not sustain a velocity to move sediment away from the river mouth. The Brazos River has the highest annual suspended-sediment yield of all the rivers in Texas.

 

 

 

A. Dannenbaum (DEC) Engineering was responsible for design. Rigid Constructors was the dredging contractor. The design had to be modified to get the various government authorities to sign off on the permit. 

 

 

 

A. This was a low bid contract by Brazoria County. Six bids were received for the dredge work. By law, the County could not disqualify the low bidder without just cause. Only option would have been to cancel the solicitation and rebid it, which is difficult without changing the scope of work significantly. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A. Widening of the beachfront area would have reduced the peninsula sand bars that limit cross flow across the river opening, creating an eddy that loops sand back into the river channel. US Fish and Wildlife was concerned about the Piping Plover bird and Sea Turtle populations which is why they required permit revisions to narrow the dredge channel and shorten the length.

 

 

 

A. Approximately $3.5 million of the $10,766,000 was spent for the permitting and dredging effort, but the total cost has not been finalized. RESTORE Act funds, not taxpayer money was used.

 

 

 

A. No, this was the low bidder, other dredge companies bid the work. 

 

 

 

A. Yes, the survey of completed work was conducted. There were sections that they had to re-dredge within the river portion of the project. Also, they re-dredged at the mouth several times.

This is the final April 9, 2022 dredging map from HDR engineering showing Rigid Contractor’s last dredging effort to open the mouth of the San Bernard River to the Gulf of Mexico. The project was started on July 19, 2021 and ended April 14, 2022. Buildup of sediment related to lack of flow from San Bernard watershed during the drought was the county’s reason.

 

Also included is a pdf file of a summary of the complete start-to-finish dredging operations.