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119-672: The channel is a widened and deepened natural watercourse created by dredging Buffalo Bayou and Galveston Bay . The channel's upstream terminus lies about four miles east of downtown Houston , at the Turning Basin, with its downstream terminus at a gateway to the Gulf of Mexico, between Galveston Island and the Bolivar Peninsula . Major products, such as petrochemicals and Midwestern grain , are transported in bulk together with general cargo. The original watercourse for

238-402: A dragline . This technique is often used in excavation of bay mud . Most of these dredges are crane barges with spuds , steel piles that can be lowered and raised to position the dredge. A backhoe/dipper dredger has a backhoe like on some excavators . A crude but usable backhoe dredger can be made by mounting a land-type backhoe excavator on a pontoon . The six largest backhoe dredgers in

357-466: A dreadnought -era battleship in existence. In 2022, the USS Texas was permanently relocated from her berth along the channel. The US Army's San Jacinto Ordnance Depot was located on the channel from 1941–1964. During World War II, two large shipyards produced side-by-side at the confluence of Greens Bayou: Todd Houston Shipbuilding built mostly Liberty Ships and Brown Shipbuilding built

476-490: A capacity of 6,000 cubic metres per hour (59,000 cu ft/ks). An even larger dredger, retired in 1980, was the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Essayons , which was 525.17 feet (160.07 m) long. The Mallard II , a clamshell dredger that maintains levees in San Francisco Bay , has operated continuously since being built in 1936. Dredgers are often equipped with dredge monitoring software to help

595-572: A collection of historic homes constructed from the Civil War through World War II. The East End Historic District on both sides of Broadway and Market Streets, contains 463 buildings. Other historic districts include Cedar Lawn, Denver Court and Fort Travis . The Strand National Historic Landmark District is a National Historic Landmark District of mainly Victorian era buildings that have been adapted for use as restaurants, antique stores, historical exhibits, museums and art galleries. The area

714-462: A female householder with no husband present, and 46.0% were non-families. 36.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.27 and the average family size was 3.02. In the city, the population was 23.4% under the age of 13, 11.3% from 13 to 24, 29.8% from 25 to 44, 21.8% from 45 to 88, and 13.7% who were 89 years of age or older in 2010. The median age

833-439: A few different types of dredge hoses that differ in terms of working pressure, float-ability, armored or not etc. Suction hoses, discharge armored hoses and self-floating hoses are some of the popular types engineered for transporting and discharging dredge materials. Some even had the pipes or hoses customised to exact dredging needs etc. Other times, it is pumped into barges (also called scows ), which deposit it elsewhere while

952-595: A gift from the state's citizens. On September 8, 1900, the island was struck by a devastating hurricane . This event holds the record as the United States' deadliest natural disaster . The city was devastated, and an estimated 6,000 to 8,000 people on the island were killed. Following the storm, a 10-mile (16 km) long, 17 foot (5.2 m) high seawall was built to protect the city from floods and hurricane storm surges. A team of engineers including Henry Martyn Robert ( Robert's Rules of Order ) designed

1071-637: A larger ship channel began. By the mid 1900s the Port of Houston had established itself as the leading port in Texas, eclipsing the natural harbors at Galveston and Texas City . The Turning Basin terminal in Harrisburg (now part of Houston) became the port's largest shipping point. On January 10, 1910, residents of Harris County voted 16 to 1 to fund dredging the Houston ship channel to a depth of 25 feet for

1190-524: A long stagnation. Many businesses relocated off the island during this period, but health care, insurance, and financial industries continue to be strong contributors to the economy. By 1959, the city of Houston had long outpaced Galveston in population and economic growth. Beginning in 1957, the Galveston Historical Foundation began its efforts to preserve historic buildings. The 1966 book The Galveston That Was helped encourage

1309-482: A long tube like some vacuum cleaners but on a larger scale. A plain suction dredger has no tool at the end of the suction pipe to disturb the material. A trailing suction hopper dredger (TSHD) trails its suction pipe when working. The pipe, which is fitted with a dredge drag head , loads the dredge spoil into one or more hoppers in the vessel. When the hoppers are full, the TSHD sails to a disposal area and either dumps

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1428-496: A process known as dewatering. Current dewatering techniques employ either centrifuges, geotube containers, large textile based filters or polymer flocculant /congealant based apparatus. In many projects, slurry dewatering is performed in large inland settling pits, although this is becoming less and less common as mechanical dewatering techniques continue to improve. Similarly, many groups (most notable in east Asia) are performing research towards utilizing dewatered sediments for

1547-475: A red-brick Victorian Italianate home, was constructed in 1859 by James Moreau Brown. One of the first brick structures in Texas, it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a recorded Texas Historic Landmark. The structure is also the site of what was to become the holiday known as Juneteenth , where on June 19, 1865, Union General Gordon Granger, standing on its balcony, read

1666-411: A shipping channel through coral reefs . A bucket dredger is equipped with a bucket dredge, which is a device that picks up sediment by mechanical means, often with many circulating buckets attached to a wheel or chain . A grab dredger picks up seabed material with a clam shell bucket , which hangs from an onboard crane or a crane barge , or is carried by a hydraulic arm, or is mounted like on

1785-587: A single generation Galveston went from being Texas' most populous (and most important) city to being a tragic footnote to a century of frontier violence, urban lawlessness and civic greed, throughout the state. Apart from reducing Galveston to rubble, the one-two punch that nature dealt the island stiffened the spines of those who survived. As Gary Cartwright observes (see fn 40), residents prided themselves on having stayed behind, though it meant being marooned for decades. They became cynical, hard-boiled, and had no use for outsiders (including Texans, and those who fled to

1904-518: A specialist floating plant , known as a dredger. Usually the main objectives of dredging is to recover material of value, or to create a greater depth of water. Dredging systems can either be shore-based, brought to a location based on barges , or built into purpose-built vessels. Dredging can have environmental impacts: it can disturb marine sediments , leading to both short- and long-term water pollution , damage or destroy seabed ecosystems , and can release legacy human-sourced toxins captured in

2023-779: A square bell tower with trefoil window. The U.S. Custom House began construction in 1860 and was completed in 1861. The Confederate Army occupied the building during the American Civil War , In 1865, the Custom House was the site of the ceremony officially ending the Civil War. Galveston's modern architecture include the American National Insurance Company Tower ( One Moody Plaza ), San Luis Resort South and North Towers, The Breakers Condominiums, The Galvestonian Resort and Condos, One Shearn Moody Plaza, US National Bank Building,

2142-565: A substantial number of destroyer escorts , submarine chasers and amphibious landing craft. Currently, the channel is dredged to a depth of 43–45 feet. The channel was designated a National Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) in 1987. The "Texas chicken" maneuver is known to mariners who regularly navigate large vessels on the Houston Ship Channel. On December 25, 2007,

2261-404: A water environment. Possible reasons for dredging include improving existing water features ; reshaping land and water features to alter drainage , navigability , and commercial use; constructing dams , dikes , and other controls for streams and shorelines; and recovering valuable mineral deposits or marine life having commercial value. In all but a few situations the excavation is undertaken by

2380-546: A wide beach were left with a narrow strip of sand at low tide and a gloomy vista of waves on rocks when the tide was high." To further its recovery and rebuild its population, Galveston actively solicited immigration . Through the efforts of Rabbi Henry Cohen and Congregation B'nai Israel , Galveston became the focus of an immigration plan called the Galveston Movement that, between 1907 and 1914, diverted roughly 10,000 Eastern European Jewish immigrants from

2499-401: A year with some areas typically receiving over 50 inches (1,300 mm). Temperatures reaching 20 °F (−7 °C) or 100 °F (38 °C) are quite rare, having last occurred on December 23, 1989, and June 25, 2012 , respectively. Record temperatures range from 8 °F (−13 °C) on February 12, 1899 , up to 104 °F (40 °C) on September 5, 2000; the record cold maximum

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2618-534: Is 25 °F (−4 °C) on February 7, 1895, and again on the date of the all-time low, while, conversely, the record warm minimum is 87 °F (31 °C) set on August 31 – September 3, 2020. On average, the warmest night is at 84 °F (29 °C), seldom straying far from averages. Hurricanes are an ever-present threat during the summer and fall season, which puts Galveston in Coastal Windstorm Area. Galveston Island and

2737-590: Is a coastal resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas . The community of 211.31 square miles (547.3 km ), with a population of 53,695 at the 2020 census , is the county seat of surrounding Galveston County and second-largest municipality in the county. It is also within the Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land metropolitan area at its southern end on

2856-526: Is a bar or blade which is pulled over the seabed behind any suitable ship or boat. It has an effect similar to that of a bulldozer on land. The chain-operated steam dredger Bertha , built in 1844 to a design by Brunel and as of 2009 was the oldest operational steam vessel in Britain, was of this type. This is an early type of dredger which was formerly used in shallow water in the Netherlands. It

2975-466: Is a major tourist attraction for the island city. It is the center for two very popular seasonal festivals . It is widely considered the island's shopping and entertainment center. Today, "the Strand" is generally used to refer to the five-block business district between 20th and 25th streets in downtown Galveston, near the city's wharf. Since the early 20th century, Galveston has been popularly known as

3094-684: Is a major economic force of the city. Galveston is home to six historic districts containing one of the largest historically significant collections of 19th-century buildings in the U.S., with over 60 structures listed on the National Register of Historic Places , maintained by the National Park Service in the United States Department of the Interior . Indigenous inhabitants of Galveston Island called

3213-454: Is associated with heavy industry, an icon of Texas history is also located along its length. The San Jacinto Monument commemorates the Battle of San Jacinto (1836) in which Texas won its independence from Mexico . From 1948 to 2022, also along the channel's path was the museum ship USS  Texas  (BB-35) . She saw service during both world wars, and is the oldest remaining example of

3332-792: Is forbidden unless authorized by a permit issued by the Army Corps of Engineers . Due to potential environmental impacts, dredging is often restricted to licensed areas, with vessel activity monitored closely using automatic GPS systems. According to a Rabobank outlook report in 2013, the largest dredging companies in the world are in order of size, based on dredging sales in 2012 Notable dredging companies in North America Notable dredging companies in South Asia Galveston Galveston ( / ˈ ɡ æ l v ɪ s t ən / GAL -vis-tən )

3451-424: Is mainly used in harbours and other shallow water. Excavator dredge attachments The excavator dredge attachment uses the characteristics of cutter-suction dredgers, consisting of cutter heads and a suction pump for transferring material. These hydraulic attachments mount onto the boom arm of an excavator allowing an operator to maneuver the attachment along the shoreline and in shallow water for dredging. This

3570-411: Is referred to as the "West End", roughly corresponding to the area west of the western end of the seawall. Communities in eastern Galveston (the area east of the western end of the seawall) include Havre Lafitte, Offats Bayou, Central City, Fort Crockett, Bayou Shore, Lasker Park, Carver Park, Kempner Park, Old City/Central Business District, San Jacinto, East End, and Lindale. As of 2009 many residents of

3689-410: Is usually sucked up by a wear-resistant centrifugal pump and discharged either through a pipe line or to a barge. Cutter-suction dredgers are most often used in geological areas consisting of hard surface materials (for example gravel deposits or surface bedrock) where a standard suction dredger would be ineffective. They can, if sufficiently powerful, be used instead of underwater blasting. As of 2024,

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3808-486: The Leiv Eriksson are: 46,000 cubic metre hopper and a design dredging depth of 155 m. Next largest is HAM 318 ( Van Oord ) with its 37,293 cubic metre hopper and a maximum dredging depth of 101 m. A cutter-suction dredger's (CSD) suction tube has a cutting mechanism at the suction inlet. The cutting mechanism loosens the bed material and transports it to the suction mouth. The dredged material

3927-528: The 2020 census , there were 53,695 people, 23,375 households, and 12,505 families residing in the city. There were 34,259 housing units. As of the 2010 census , there were 47,743 people, 19,943 households, and 10,779 families residing in the city. As of the 2016 U.S. Census estimate d, the city had a total population of 50,550. The population density was 1,159 people per square mile (447 people/km ). There were 32,368 dwelling units at an average density of 786 per square mile (303/km ). The racial makeup of

4046-638: The American Civil War , Confederate forces under Major General John B. Magruder attacked and expelled occupying Union troops from the city in January 1863 in the Battle of Galveston . On June 19, 1865, two months after the end of the war and almost three years after the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation , General Gordon Granger of the Union Army informed the enslaved people of Texas that they were now free. This news

4165-466: The Bolivar Peninsula are generally at the greatest risk among the communities near the Galveston Bay. However, though the island and peninsula provide some shielding, the bay shoreline still faces significant danger from storm surge. Talks of building a coastal storm barrier with a mix of federal and state funding to protect Galveston and Houston have been ongoing for years. Notes: As of

4284-554: The Houston Port Authority 's beneficial use and environmental mitigation responsibilities. The channel has five vehicle crossings: Washburn Tunnel , Sidney Sherman Bridge , Sam Houston Ship Channel Bridge , popularly known as the Beltway 8 Bridge. Two Dollar bridge is another local nickname; Fred Hartman Bridge connecting La Porte and Baytown, Texas; and Lynchburg Ferry . John Richardson Harris platted

4403-481: The Nile were channelled and wharfs built at the time of the pyramids (4000 BC), there was extensive harbour building in the eastern Mediterranean from 1000 BC and the disturbed sediment layers gives evidence of dredging. At Marseille , dredging phases are recorded from the third century BC onwards, the most extensive during the first century AD. The remains of three dredging boats have been unearthed; they were abandoned at

4522-572: The Prohibition era of 1919–1933 as a leading tourist hub and a center of illegal gambling , nicknamed the Free State of Galveston until this era ended in the 1950s with subsequent other economic and social development. Much of Galveston's economy is centered in the tourism , health care , shipping , and financial industries. The 84-acre (34 ha) University of Texas Medical Branch campus with an enrollment of more than 2,500 students

4641-541: The " Free State of Galveston ". The island had entered what would later become known as the "open era". The 1930s and 1940s brought much change to the Island City. During World War II , the Galveston Municipal Airport, predecessor to Scholes International Airport , was re-designated a U.S. Army Air Corps base and named "Galveston Army Air Field". In January 1943, Galveston Army Air Field

4760-463: The 'Oleander City' because of a long history of cultivating Nerium oleander , a subtropical evergreen shrub which thrives on the island. Oleanders are a defining feature of the city; when flowering (between April and October) they add masses of color to local gardens, parks, and streets. Thousands were planted in the recovery following the Hurricane of 1900 and Galvestonians continue to treasure

4879-633: The 1960s came the expansion of higher education in Galveston. Already home to the University of Texas Medical Branch, the city got a boost in 1962 with the creation of the Texas Maritime Academy, predecessor of Texas A&M University at Galveston ; and by 1967, a community college , Galveston College , had been established. In the 2000s, property values rose after expensive projects were completed, and demand for second homes by

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4998-582: The City of Galveston and there are also Oleander-themed tours of the city exploring the history of the plant on the island. Since 1967 the International Oleander Society has operated in Galveston, which promotes the cultivation of the plant, organizes an Oleander festival every spring and maintains a commemorative Oleander garden in the city. Galveston contains a large and historically significant collection of 19th-century buildings in

5117-659: The East End Historic District of Galveston, Texas. The American Institute of Architects listed Bishop's Palace as one of the 100 most significant buildings in the United States, and the Library of Congress has classified it as one of the fourteen most representative Victorian structures in the nation. The Galvez Hotel is a historic hotel that opened in 1911. The building was named the Galvez, honoring Bernardo de Gálvez y Madrid, Count of Gálvez , for whom

5236-573: The ExxonMobil Baytown Complex and the Deer Park Complex. The channel, occasionally widened and deepened to accommodate ever-larger ships, is 530 feet (160 m) wide by 45 feet (14 m) deep by 50 miles (80 km) long. The islands in the ship channel are part of the ongoing widening and deepening project. The islands are formed from soil pulled up by dredging, and the salt marshes and bird islands are part of

5355-569: The Houston Ship Channel was featured on the CNN Special, Planet in Peril , as a potential polluter of nearby neighborhoods. That year, the University of Texas released a study suggesting that children living within 2 miles (3.2 km) of the Houston Ship Channel were 56% more likely to become sick with leukemia than the national average. On March 22, 2014, a barge carrying nearly a million gallons of marine fuel oil collided with another ship in

5474-499: The Houston Ship Channel, causing the contents of one of the barge's 168,000-gallon tanks to leak into Galveston Bay. 29°42′30″N 95°00′18″W  /  29.70833°N 95.00500°W  / 29.70833; -95.00500 For a complete listing, see list of cities and towns in Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land MSA Dredging Dredging is the excavation of material from

5593-621: The Rainforest Pyramid at Moody Gardens, John Sealy Hospital Towers at UTMB and Medical Arts Building (also known as Two Moody Plaza). Galveston's climate is classified as humid subtropical ( Cfa in Köppen climate classification system ), and is part of USDA Plant hardiness zone 10a. Prevailing winds from the south and southeast bring moisture from the Gulf of Mexico . Summer temperatures regularly exceed 90 °F (32 °C) and

5712-544: The Union during the Civil War, and join the Republican Party after the war. During this expansion, the city had many "firsts" in the state, with the founding of institutions and adoption of inventions: post office (1836), naval base (1836), Texas chapter of a Masonic order (1840); cotton compress (1842), Catholic parochial school (Ursuline Academy) (1847), insurance company (1854), and gas lights (1856). During

5831-580: The United States. Galveston's architectural preservation and revitalization efforts over several decades have earned national recognition. Located in the Strand District, the Grand 1894 Opera House is a restored historic Romanesque Revival style Opera House that is currently operated as a not-for-profit performing arts theater. The Bishop's Palace , also known as Gresham's Castle, is an ornate Victorian house located on Broadway and 14th Street in

5950-475: The United States. It was, for a time, Texas' largest city, known as the "Queen City of the Gulf". It was devastated by the unexpected Galveston Hurricane of 1900 , whose effects included massive flooding and a storm surge which nearly wiped out the town. The natural disaster on the exposed barrier island is still ranked today as the deadliest in United States history, with an estimated death toll between 6,000 and 12,000 people. The city subsequently reemerged during

6069-589: The West End of Galveston was quickly eroding and the city should reduce construction and/or population in that area. It recommended against any rebuilding of the West End in the event of damage from another hurricane. Galveston is home to six historic districts with over 60 structures listed representing architectural significance in the National Register of Historic Places. The Silk Stocking National Historic District, between Broadway and Seawall Boulevard and bounded by Ave. K, 23rd St., Ave. P, and 26th St., contains

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6188-607: The addition of the Galveston Island Historic Pleasure Pier and the replacement of the bascule -type drawbridge on the railroad causeway with a vertical-lift -type drawbridge to allow heavier freight. The city of Galveston is situated on Galveston Island, a barrier island off the Texas Gulf coast near the mainland coast. Made up of mostly sand-sized particles and smaller amounts of finer mud sediments and larger gravel-sized sediments,

6307-441: The amount of $ 1,250,000, which was then matched by federal funds. On June 14, 1914 the first deepwater ship, steamship Satilla , arrived at the port of Houston, establishing steamboat service between New York City and Houston. On November 10, 1914, President Woodrow Wilson opened the Houston Ship Channel, part of the Port of Houston. The onset of World War I and the first mechanized war's thirst for oil greatly increased use of

6426-513: The area's humidity drives the heat index even higher, while nighttime lows average around 80 °F (27 °C). Winters in the area are temperate with typical January highs above 60 °F (16 °C) and lows near 50 °F (10 °C). Snowfall is generally rare; however, 15.4 in (39.1 cm) of snow fell in February 1895, making the 1894–95 winter the snowiest on record. Annual rainfall averages well over 40 inches (1,000 mm)

6545-416: The bay. They encountered the shallow Red Fish Bar, which they passed while dragging over it. The channel has been used to move goods to the sea since at least 1836. Buffalo Bayou and Galveston Bay were dredged during the late 19th and early 20th centuries to accommodate larger ships. In the wake of the 1900 Galveston hurricane , the inland Port of Houston was seen as a safer long-term option, and planning for

6664-532: The beds of streams. During the renaissance Leonardo da Vinci drew a design for a drag dredger. Dredging machines have been used during the construction of the Suez Canal from the late 1800s to present day expansions and maintenance. The completion of the Panama Canal in 1914, the most expensive U.S. engineering project at the time, relied extensively on dredging. These operate by sucking through

6783-620: The bottom of the harbour during the first and second centuries AD. The Banu Musa brothers during the Muslim Golden Age in while working at the Bayt-Al-Hikmah (house of wisdom) in Baghdad, designed an original invention in their book named ‘ Book of Ingenious Devices ’, a grab machine that does not appear in any earlier Greek works. The grab they described was used to extract objects from underwater, and recover objects from

6902-628: The capital of the Republic of Texas when in 1836 the interim president David G. Burnet relocated his government there. In 1836, the French-Canadian Michel Branamour Menard and several associates purchased 4,605 acres (18.64 km ) of land for $ 50,000 to found the town that would become the modern city of Galveston. As Anglo-Americans migrated to the city, they brought along or purchased enslaved African-Americans , some of whom worked domestically or on

7021-478: The channel, Buffalo Bayou, has its headwaters 30 miles (48 km) to the west of the city of Houston. The navigational head of the channel, the most upstream point to which general cargo ships can travel, is at Turning Basin in east Houston. The channel has numerous terminals and berthing locations along Buffalo Bayou and Galveston Bay. The major public terminals include Turning Basin, Barbours Cut , and Bayport . Many private docks are there as well, including

7140-411: The city was 62.5% White , 19.2% Black or African American , 0.9% Native American , 3.2% Asian , <0.1% Pacific Islander , 11.0% from other races , and 3.3% from two or more races. 31.3% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. There were 19,943 households, out of which 20.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 34.4% were married couples living together, 14.7% had

7259-462: The city was named. The hotel was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 4, 1979. The Michel B. Menard House , built in 1838 and the oldest surviving structure in Galveston, is designed in the Greek revival style. In 1880, the house was bought by Edwin N. Ketchum who was police chief of the city during the 1900 Storm. The Ketchum family owned the home until the 1970s. Ashton Villa ,

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7378-468: The city. As these vice industries crashed, so did tourism, taking the rest of the Galveston economy with it. Neither the economy nor the culture of the city was the same afterward. In 1947, buildings in the city were damaged when a ship carrying 2,200 tons of ammonium nitrate exploded at the nearby Port of Texas City , in what became known as the Texas City disaster . The island's economy began

7497-428: The comparative safety of East Texas) who either pitied or prayed for them. Indifference may have masked anxiety, but it enabled those who committed themselves to Galveston to endure their fate with a measure of dignity, even when they were forced to compromise with conventional morality in order to do so. Thus Galveston became a unique port of call, even as automobile travel became ubiquitous, and ended its isolation from

7616-605: The construction industry. Dredging is a four-part process: loosening the material, bringing the material to the surface (together extraction), transportation and disposal. The extract can be disposed of locally or transported by barge or in a liquid suspension in pipelines. Disposal can be to infill sites, or the material can be used constructively to replenish eroded sand that has been lost to coastal erosion , or constructively create sea-walls, building land or whole new landforms such as viable islands in coral atolls . Ancient authors refer to harbour dredging. The seven arms of

7735-476: The contents of "General Order No. 3", thereby emancipating all slaves in the state of Texas . St. Joseph's Church was built by German immigrants in 1859–1860 and is the oldest wooden church building in Galveston and the oldest German Catholic Church in Texas. The church was dedicated in April 1860, to St. Joseph, the patron saint of laborers. The building is a wooden gothic revival structure, rectangular with

7854-617: The devastation caused by the first flood, a second one struck in August, 1915, thanks to a major hurricane that originated in the central Atlantic, tore through the Caribbean, and then left a long trail of destruction across the Gulf of Mexico before it dissipated in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, nearly three weeks later. While the newly constructed seawall spared the island the worst, over 400 Galvestonians died, and damages totaled $ 30 million USD, equivalent to $ 903 million in 2023. Thus, in less than

7973-495: The dredge continues its work. A number of vessels, notably in the UK and NW Europe de-water the hopper to dry the cargo to enable it to be discharged onto a quayside 'dry'. This is achieved principally using self discharge bucket wheel, drag scraper or excavator via conveyor systems. When contaminated (toxic) sediments are to be removed, or large volume inland disposal sites are unavailable, dredge slurries are reduced to dry solids via

8092-482: The dredge operator position the dredger and monitor the current dredge level. The monitoring software often uses Real Time Kinematic satellite navigation to accurately record where the machine has been operating and to what depth the machine has dredged to. In a "hopper dredger", the dredged materials end up in a large onboard hold called a "hopper." A suction hopper dredger is usually used for maintenance dredging. A hopper dredge usually has doors in its bottom to empty

8211-425: The dredged materials, but some dredges empty their hoppers by splitting the two-halves of their hulls on large hydraulic hinges. Either way, as the vessel dredges, excess water in the dredged materials is spilled off as the heavier solids settle to the bottom of the hopper. This excess water is returned to the sea to reduce weight and increase the amount of solid material (or slurry) that can be carried in one load. When

8330-494: The environment, including the following: The nature of dredging operations and possible environmental impacts requires that the activity often be closely regulated and requires comprehensive regional environmental impact assessments alongside continuous monitoring. For example, in the U.S., the Clean Water Act requires that any discharge of dredged or fill materials into "waters of the United States," including wetlands,

8449-504: The eponymously named Clopper's Point . He recruited six men from Ohio to work as traders, who sailed the schooner Little Zoe from Cincinnati laden with supplies such as flour and spices, nails and other hardware, and whiskey and tobacco. Two of these hires were his sons, Edward and Joseph Clopper. They recorded their travels in a journal, reporting several hazards of Galveston Bay in route to Buffalo Bayou. They ran Little Zoe aground on Galveston Island and later observed two wrecked ships in

8568-514: The fertile Brazos Valley, so Harrisburg remained a remote overland location from the critical mass of farmlands: about 20 miles from Fort Bend, Texas and about 40 miles from San Felipe de Austin, Texas . Travelling the Brazos River presented several hazards, most of all, its shifting, shallow sandbars at its mouth. Despite several interventions, the river remained hostile to navigation. Nicholas Clopper acquired land downstream from Harrisburg,

8687-740: The fledgling empire of Mexico fight for independence from Spain , along with other colonies in the Western Hemisphere of the Americas in Central and South America in the 1810s and 1820s. The Port of Galveston was established in 1825 by the Congress of Mexico following its independence from Spain. The city was the main port for the fledgling Texas Navy during the Texas Revolution of 1836, and later served temporarily as

8806-527: The form of a scoop made of chain mesh, and are towed by a fishing boat . Clam-specific dredges can utilize hydraulic injection to target deeper into the sand. Dredging can be destructive to the seabed and some scallop dredging has been replaced by collecting via scuba diving . As of June 2018, the largest dredger in Asia is MV  Tian Kun Hao , a 140-metre (460 ft) long dredger constructed in China, with

8925-586: The government constructed Fort Crockett defenses and coastal artillery batteries in Galveston and along the Bolivar Roads. In February 1897, the USS ; Texas (nicknamed Old Hoodoo), the first commissioned battleship of the United States Navy, visited Galveston. During the festivities, the ship's officers were presented with a $ 5,000 silver service, adorned with various Texas motifs, as

9044-447: The hopper is filled with slurry , the dredger stops dredging and goes to a dump site and empties its hopper. Some hopper dredges are designed so they can also be emptied from above using pumps if dump sites are unavailable or if the dredge material is contaminated. Sometimes the slurry of dredgings and water is pumped straight into pipes which deposit it on nearby land. These pipes are also commonly known as dredge hoses , too. There are

9163-513: The influence of Sam Maceo and Rosario Maceo , the city exploited the prohibition of liquor and gambling in clubs like the Balinese Room , which offered entertainment to wealthy Houstonians and other out-of-towners. Combined with prostitution, which had existed in the city since the Civil War, Galveston became known as the "sin city" of the Gulf. Galvestonians accepted and supported the illegal activities, often referring to their island as

9282-619: The island Auia . Though there is no certainty regarding their route and their landings, Cabeza de Vaca and his crew were shipwrecked at a place he called "Isla de Malhado" in November 1528. This could have referred to Galveston Island or San Luis Island . During his charting of the Gulf Coast in 1785, the Spanish explorer José de Evia labeled the water features surrounding the island "Bd. de Galvestown" and "Bahia de Galvestowm" [sic]. He

9401-515: The island is unstable, affected by water and weather, and can shift its boundaries through erosion. The city is about 45 miles (72 km) southeast of downtown Houston. The island is oriented generally northeast-southwest, with the Gulf of Mexico on the east and south, West Bay on the west, and Galveston Bay on the north. The island's main access point from the mainland is the Interstate Highway 45 causeway that crosses West Bay on

9520-616: The island's northeast side. A deepwater channel connects Galveston's harbor with the Gulf and the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway. According to the United States Census Bureau , the city has an area of 211.31 square miles (547.29 km ), of which 41.04 square miles (106.29 km ) are land and 170.27 square miles (441.00 km ), or 80.31%, are water. The island is 50 miles (80 km) southeast of Houston . The western portion of Galveston

9639-469: The material could well suit the building industry, or could be used for beach nourishment. Dredging can disturb aquatic ecosystems , often with adverse impacts. In addition, dredge spoils may contain toxic chemicals that may have an adverse effect on the disposal area; furthermore, the process of dredging often dislodges chemicals residing in benthic substrates and injects them into the water column . Dredging can have numerous significant impacts on

9758-467: The material through doors in the hull or pumps the material out of the hoppers. Some dredges also self-offload using drag buckets and conveyors. As of 2008 the largest trailing suction hopper dredgers in the world were Jan De Nul 's Cristobal Colon (launched 4 July 2008 ) and her sister ship Leiv Eriksson (launched 4 September 2009 ). Main design specifications for the Cristobal Colon and

9877-467: The most powerful cutter-suction dredger in the world is DEME 's Spartacus , which entered service in 2021. The auger dredge system functions like a cutter suction dredger, but the cutting tool is a rotating Archimedean screw set at right angles to the suction pipe. Mud Cat invented the auger dredge in the 1970s. These use the Venturi effect of a concentrated high-speed stream of water to pull

9996-463: The natural harbor of Galveston Bay along the Gulf of Mexico made it the center of trade in Texas. It was one of the nation's largest cotton ports, in competition with New Orleans . Throughout the 19th century, the port city of Galveston grew rapidly and the Strand was considered the region's primary business center. For a time, the Strand was known as the "Wall Street of the South ". In the late 1890s,

10115-426: The nearby water, together with bed material, into a pipe. An airlift is a type of small suction dredge. It is sometimes used like other dredges. At other times, an airlift is handheld underwater by a diver . It works by blowing air into the pipe, and that air, being lighter than water, rises inside the pipe, dragging water with it. Some bucket dredgers and grab dredgers are powerful enough to rip out coral to make

10234-652: The need to diversify from the traditional port-related industries. In 1905 William Lewis Moody, Jr. and Isaac H. Kempner , members of two of Galveston's leading families founded the American National Insurance Company . Two years later, Moody established the City National Bank, which would become the Moody National Bank . During the 1920s and 1930s, the city re-emerged as a major tourist destination. Under

10353-409: The new national capital of the Republic of Texas . In 1865, General Gordon Granger arrived at Ashton Villa and announced to some of the last enslaved African Americans that slavery was no longer legal . This event is commemorated annually on June 19, the federal holiday of Juneteenth . During the 19th century, Galveston became a major U.S. commercial center and one of the largest ports in

10472-586: The northwestern coast of the Gulf of Mexico . Galveston, or Galvez's town, was named after 18th-century Spanish military and political leader Bernardo de Gálvez, 1st Count of Gálvez (1746–1786), who was born in Macharaviaya , Málaga , in the Kingdom of Spain . Galveston's first European settlements on the Galveston Island were built around 1816 by French pirate Louis-Michel Aury to help

10591-421: The opera house (1870), and orphanage (1876), and installation of telephone lines (1878) and electric lights (1883). Having attracted freedmen from rural areas, in 1870 the city had a black population that totaled 3,000, made up mostly of former slaves but also by persons who were free men of color and educated before the war. Blacks comprised nearly 25% of the city's population of 13,818 that year. During

10710-521: The pirate Jean Lafitte . Lafitte organized Galveston into a pirate "kingdom" he called "Campeche", anointing himself the island's "head of government". Lafitte remained in Galveston until 1821, when the United States Navy forced him and his raiders off the island. In 1825 the Congress of Mexico established the Port of Galveston and in 1830 erected a customs house . Galveston served as

10829-427: The plan to raise much of the existing city to a sufficient elevation behind a seawall so that confidence in the city could be maintained. The city developed the city commission form of city government , known as the " Galveston Plan ", to help expedite recovery. Despite attempts to draw investment to the city after the hurricane, Galveston never returned to its levels of national importance or prosperity. Development

10948-425: The plant for its low water needs, tolerance of heat, salt spray and sandy soils. This makes them especially resistant to the after-effects of hurricanes and tropical storms. Galveston is reputed to have the most diverse range of Oleander cultivars in the world, numbering over 100, with many varieties developed in the city and named after prominent Galvestonians. In 2005 the month of May was declared "Oleander Month" by

11067-488: The post–Civil War period, leaders such as George T. Ruby and Norris Wright Cuney , who headed the Texas Republican Party and promoted civil rights for freedmen , helped to dramatically improve educational and employment opportunities for blacks in Galveston and in Texas. Cuney established his own business of stevedores and a union of black dockworkers to break the white monopoly on dock jobs. Galveston

11186-475: The preservation movement. Restoration efforts financed by motivated investors, notably Houston businessman George P. Mitchell , gradually developed the Strand Historic District and reinvented other areas. A new, family-oriented tourism emerged in the city over many years. In September 1961, Hurricane Carla struck the city, generating an F4 tornado that killed eight and injured 200. With

11305-667: The production of concretes and construction block, although the high organic content (in many cases) of this material is a hindrance toward such ends. The proper management of contaminated sediments is a modern-day issue of significant concern. Because of a variety of maintenance activities, thousands of tonnes of contaminated sediment are dredged worldwide from commercial ports and other aquatic areas at high level of industrialization. Dredged material can be reused after appropriate decontamination. A variety of processes has been proposed and tested at different scales of application ( technologies for environmental remediation ). Once decontaminated,

11424-537: The project, which was completed in late 1935. The proximity to Texas oilfields led to the establishment of numerous petrochemical refineries along the waterway, such as the ExxonMobil Baytown installation on the eastern bank of the San Jacinto River . Now the channel and surrounding area support the second-largest petrochemical complex in the world. While much of the Houston Ship Channel

11543-512: The rest of the region. Galveston has a worldview all its own, as if the Zeitgeist had decided to linger awhile, so that past and present might become one, and the forgotten boom town that went bust, not once but twice, might yet be resurrected, lifting the burden of history while daring fate. Though the storms stalled economic development and the city of Houston developed as the region's principal metropolis, Galveston economic leaders recognized

11662-491: The same period, the city drew a boundary known as a "fire zone," within which new buildings could not be constructed of wood. In 1867 Galveston suffered a yellow fever epidemic; about 1800 people died in the city. These occurred in waterfront and river cities throughout the 19th century, as did cholera epidemics. The city's progress continued through the Reconstruction era with numerous "firsts": construction of

11781-479: The seabed to bring the sediment in suspension, which then becomes a turbidity current , which flows away down slope, is moved by a second burst of water from the WID or is carried away in natural currents. Water injection results in a lot of sediment in the water which makes measurement with most hydrographic equipment (for instance: singlebeam echosounders) difficult. These dredgers use a chamber with inlets, out of which

11900-469: The seabed with its hull out of the water. Some forms can go on land. Some of these are land-type backhoe excavators whose wheels are on long hinged legs so it can drive into shallow water and keep its cab out of water. Some of these may not have a floatable hull and, if so, cannot work in deep water. Oliver Evans (1755–1819) in 1804 invented the Oruktor Amphibolos, an amphibious dredger which

12019-628: The sediment. These environmental impacts can reduce marine wildlife populations in some cases, contaminate sources of drinking water and interrupt economic activities such as fishing. Dredging is excavation carried out underwater or partially underwater, in shallow waters or ocean waters . It keeps waterways and ports navigable, and assists coastal protection, land reclamation and coastal redevelopment, by gathering up bottom sediments and transporting it elsewhere. Dredging can be done to recover materials of commercial value; these may be high value minerals or sediments such as sand and gravel that are used by

12138-508: The ship channel. The United States Army Corps of Engineers increased the depth of the channel from 25 to 30 feet in 1922. In 1933, the United States Department of War and the United States House Committee on Rivers and Harbors approved a plan to increase the depth of the channel from 30 to 34 feet and widen the Galveston Bay section from 250 to 400 feet. The Public Works Administration provided $ 2,800,000 for

12257-471: The town of Harrisburg, Texas on Buffalo Bayou at the mouth of Brays Bayou in 1826. He established a steam mill there, while making Harrisburg into a logistical center for the Austin's Colony . He plied his schooner The Rights of Man through the waters of Galveston Bay and Buffalo Bayou, importing supplies from the United States, and exporting cotton and hides. However, fewer people settled Buffalo Bayou than

12376-445: The use of "San Luis Island", but introduced "Galveston" to refer to the little village at the east end of the island. Evidence of the name Galveston Island appears on the 1833 David H. Burr. The island first permanent European settlements were constructed around 1816 by the pirate Louis-Michel Aury to support Mexico's rebellion against Spain. In 1817, Aury returned from an unsuccessful raid against Spain to find Galveston occupied by

12495-495: The usual destinations of the crowded cities of the Northeastern United States . Additionally numerous other immigrant groups, including Greeks , Italians and Russian Jews , came to the city during this period. This immigration trend substantially altered the ethnic makeup of the island, as well as many other areas of Texas and the western U.S. Unfortunately, just as the island was starting to recover from

12614-467: The war drastically reduced military investment in the island. Increasing enforcement of gambling laws and the growth of Las Vegas, Nevada , as a competitive center of gambling and entertainment put pressure on the gaming industry on the island. Finally in 1957, Texas Attorney General Will Wilson and the Texas Rangers began a massive campaign of raids that disrupted gambling and prostitution in

12733-427: The water is pumped with the inlets closed. It is usually suspended from a crane on land or from a small pontoon or barge. Its effectiveness depends on depth pressure. A snagboat is designed to remove big debris such as dead trees and parts of trees from North America waterways. Some of these are any of the above types of dredger, which can operate normally, or by extending legs, also known as spuds, so it stands on

12852-485: The waterfront, including on riverboats. In 1839, the City of Galveston adopted a charter and was incorporated by the Congress of the Republic of Texas . The city was by then a burgeoning port of entry and attracted many new residents in the 1840s and later among the flood of German immigrants to Texas , including Jewish merchants. Together with ethnic Mexican residents, these groups tended to oppose slavery, support

12971-477: The wealthy increased. It has made it difficult for middle-class workers to find affordable housing on the island. Hurricane Ike made landfall on Galveston Island in the early morning of September 13, 2008, as a category-2 hurricane with winds of 110 miles per hour. Damage was extensive to buildings along the seawall. After the storm, the island was rebuilt with investments in tourism and shipping, and continued emphasis on higher education and health care, notably

13090-513: The west end use golf carts as transportation to take them to and from residential houses, the Galveston Island Country Club, and stores. In 2009, Chief of Police Charles Wiley said he believed golf carts should be prohibited outside golf courses, and West End residents campaigned against any ban on their use. In 2011 Rice University released a study, "Atlas of Sustainable Strategies for Galveston Island", which argued

13209-705: The world are currently the Vitruvius, the Mimar Sinan, Postnik Yakovlev (Jan De Nul), the Samson (DEME), the Simson and the Goliath (Van Oord). They featured barge -mounted excavators. Small backhoe dredgers can be track-mounted and work from the bank of ditches. A backhoe dredger is equipped with a half-open shell. The shell is filled moving towards the machine. Usually dredged material is loaded in barges. This machine

13328-406: Was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.4 males. For every 100 females age 13 and over, there were 90.4 males. The median income for a household in the city was $ 28,895, and the median income for a family was $ 35,049. Males had a median income of $ 30,150 versus $ 26,030 for females. The per capita income for the city was $ 18,275. About 17.8% of families and 22.3% of the population were below

13447-446: Was America's first steam-powered road vehicle. These are usually used to recover useful materials from the seabed. Many of them travel on continuous track . A unique variant is intended to walk on legs on the seabed. Fishing dredges are used to collect various species of clams , scallops , oysters or mussels from the seabed. Some dredges are also designed to catch crabs, sea urchins, sea cucumbers, and conch. These dredges have

13566-532: Was a cosmopolitan city and one of the more successful during Reconstruction; the Freedmen's Bureau was headquartered here. German families sheltered teachers from the North, and hundreds of freedmen were taught to read. Its business community promoted progress, and immigrants stayed after arriving at this port of entry. By the end of the 19th century, the city of Galveston had a population of 37,000. Its position on

13685-468: Was a flat-bottomed boat with spikes sticking out of its bottom. As tide current pulled the boat, the spikes scraped seabed material loose, and the tide current washed the material away, hopefully to deeper water. Krabbelaar is the Dutch word for "scratcher". A water injection dredger uses a small jet to inject water under low pressure (to prevent the sediment from exploding into the surrounding waters) into

13804-596: Was also hindered by the construction of the Houston Ship Channel , which brought the Port of Houston into competition with the natural harbor of the Port of Galveston for sea traffic. Finally, the Seawall itself created an insurmountable problem: passive erosion resulting in the gradual disappearance of the once-wide beach and the resort business with it. "Within twenty years, the city had lost one hundred yards of sand. People who once watched auto racing on

13923-547: Was officially activated with the 46th Bombardment Group serving an anti-submarine role in the Gulf of Mexico. In 1942, William Lewis Moody, Jr., along with his wife Libbie Shearn Rice Moody, established the Moody Foundation , to benefit "present and future generations of Texans". The foundation, one of the largest in the United States, would play a prominent role in Galveston during later decades, helping to fund numerous civic and health-oriented programs. The end of

14042-400: Was transmitted via General Order No. 3 , an event now commemorated on the federal holiday of Juneteenth . After the Civil War, Galveston mandated street improvements and construction standards. The city required property owners facing commercial streets to construct and maintain sidewalks of wooden planks or bricks, or pay an assessment to the city for the construction of the same. During

14161-404: Was working under the orders of Bernardo de Gálvez. In his early chart, he calls the western end of the island "Isla de San Luis" and the eastern end "Pt. de Culebras". Evia did not label the island itself on his map of 1799. Just five years later Alexander von Humboldt borrowed the place names Isla de San Luis, Pte. De Culebras, and Bahia de Galveston. Stephen F. Austin followed his predecessors in

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