Houston Ship Channel Security District Created

Harris County Commissioners start the Houston Ship Channel Security District. Also, DART sets an ETA of 2013 for DFW airport.

DART Light Rail Scheduled to Land at DFW Airport in 2013

DART takes delivery of fi rst rail for the Orange Line to Irving. (Photo Courtesy DART)

Travel to and from Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport will soon involve trains as well as planes. The Dallas Area Rapid Transit board put plans in motion to connect the Orange Line to DFW by 2013.

“The 14-mi Orange Line is a key component of a regional rail expansion that will lead to the doubling of DART’s rail network to more than 90 miles by 2013,” Morgan Lyons, DART spokesman, told Texas Construction. “The Orange Line will run parallel with the Green Line through downtown Dallas to Bachman Station in Northwest Dallas. From Bachman Station, the Orange Line heads northwest to the Las Colinas Urban Center, in 2011, and DFW Airport in 2013.”

The DFW leg of the light rail line will be the third phase of the Orange Line and will take riders to the airport’s Terminal A.

“We needed to make the decision for the final section so we could hit our deadline of December 2013,” Lyons says.

Construction on the first two sections of the Orange Line, from the future Bachman Station in northwest Dallas to Las Colinas and then to Belt Line Station, began earlier this year under the leadership of the design-build joint venture of Kiewit, Stacy and Witbeck, Reyes, Parsons.

Kiewit, Stacy, Witbeck, Reyes, and Parsons is a joint venture of by Kiewit Texas Construction of Fort Worth, a subsidiary of Kiewit Corp. in partnership with Stacy and Witbeck of Alameda, Calif., Reyes Group of Markham, Ill. and Parsons, which has an office in Dallas.

The approximately $430-million contract is for design and construction of the 9-mi, six-station rail line from Bachman Station on the Green Line in northwest Dallas to Belt Line Road on the southern portion of DFW Airport. Funding for the project is included in DART’s 20-year financial plan. Project design began in January with major construction set to begin in May.

The sections are scheduled to open in December 2011 and 2012, respectively. A contract for the final section to the airport is scheduled to be awarded next year, Lyons says.

The DART board voted to add a future light-rail connection from the Orange Line to the Cotton Belt, a DART-owned rail line that crosses through airport property north of SH 114. It would provide additional rail access to the airport.

DART owns 52 mi. of the Cotton Belt, which is presently used as a freight rail line between the Collin County city of Wylie and Fort Worth. DART’s long-range plan is to connect the Red Line in the Plano/Richardson area to DFW Airport in 2027.

The Fort Worth “T” currently has plans to operate rail service by 2013 on the western half of the Cotton Belt between Fort Worth and the airport as part of its Southwest/Northeast project. DART and the T are also exploring a public-private partnership to accelerate the start of Cotton Belt passenger rail service.

With the final Orange Line section to DFW Airport, DART will more than double its 45-mi light rail system in 2013. That doesn’t include the second rail line through downtown Dallas that is scheduled to get under way in 2014 or the Blue Line extension from Ledbetter Station to UNT Dallas in 2018.

DHS Grant Jump Starts Houston Ship Channel Security District

Harris County Commissioners Court recently approved a measure to improve security for the Houston Ship Channel with the creation of the Houston Ship Channel Security District. It will be a public-private partnership that will fund enhancements to security technology, infrastructure and processes along the ship channel.

With about $31.3 million in grants under the Department of Homeland Security’s Port Security Grant Program, Harris County plans to design and construct a portwide security system for the Houston Ship Channel area.

Included will be a communications network encompassing the ship channel and linking the Port of Houston Authority’s video data and communications systems with the portwide security infrastructure system being constructed by Harris County. As part of the Security Project, the county has requested that PHA enter into an interlocal agreement with it to permit the county to place certain security towers, poles and related security equipment on mutually agreed-on locations at PHA facilities.

It will also assist PHA in interconnecting and enhancing its video data link for PHA facilities and would provide that Harris County allow PHA to share in its fiber conduit alongside Barbours Cut Boulevard. The interlocal agreement coincides with the creation of the Houston Ship Channel Security District this summer by the Harris County Commissioners Court.

Although primarily intended to deter terrorism, the security district will deter theft and other security and safety issues. The improved processes and technology as well as additional personnel and equipment to be applied during events such as hurricanes, evacuations or plant upsets. Plans will mitigate disruptions and help members recover and restore normal operations more quickly, according to district organizers.

The security district includes the Port of Houston and more than 100 refinery, chemical and marine facilities, which will pay operations and maintenance assessments to the district.

The district will be governed by a board of directors to be elected by security district members. At least eight directors from private industry will be selected to represent the district’s security zones. Three other directors will include a representative of the port authority, a director appointed by the county, and a director appointed by the Harris County Mayors and Council Association. A steering committee representative of the partners involved in creating the security district will plan election details.

Port of Houston Awards Electrical Contract, Approves Green Energy

The Port Commission of The Port of Houston Authority awarded a contract for an electrical installation and approved the advertisement and receipt of proposals for the purchase of deregulated electric power portwide including renewable energy.

Commissioners awarded a construction contract to Houston-based Dashiell LLC, for 138kV substation expansion at Bayport Container Terminal for $2.2 million. The 138kV substation is an electrical installation that transforms high voltage from CenterPoint to a lower voltage that can be utilized by cranes, buildings and other equipment at Bayport.

The expansion is needed because the electrical power consumption of the wharf cranes is higher than originally estimated at the start of Bayport development. Periodic electrical dredging is anticipated, which will increase electricity consumption. The Phase One, Stage Two Container Yard, to be completed in the second quarter of 2010, will need additional power as well. Finally, three new ship-to-shore wharf cranes arriving in the first quarter 2010 will need power.

The commission approved advertising and receipt of proposals for the purchase of deregulated electric power portwide for one to three years, depending on the electric service rates available for the time periods. Proposals should include a percentage of “green” or renewable, environmentally friendly energy, such as wind- or solar-powered. Cost is estimated at $6.6 million a year or up to $19.8 million for a three-year period.

TCEQ Increases High and Significant-Hazard Dam Inspections

Due to increased funding from the state legislature and recent rules modifications, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality is making efforts toward inspecting all of the state’s 1,735 high and significant-hazard dams.

So far this year, a total of 550 high- and significant-hazard dams have been inspected. In 2008, 316 dams were inspected, while 293 dams were inspected in 2007.

Current legislative funding has allowed for hiring an additional 13 inspectors this year. Over the next two years, an additional 19 inspectors will be hired.

In December 2008, the TCEQ adopted changes in the dams and reservoir rules of the Texas Water Code. These changes give the agency the authority to require emergency action, operation and maintenance plans for all dams in the state, and establishes an inspection frequency of five years for high and significant-hazard dams, and large, low-hazard dams.