Buffalo Bayou Desilting Work Progresses

Willow Fork Drainage District’s engineer, Craig Kalkomey, has just released the latest update on the Willow Fork of Buffalo Bayou desilting scheme, saying that Allgood Construction has removed the first 200 cubic yards of dirt from the diversion channel.

Willow Fork of Buffalo Bayou, which runs from the city of Katy to Cinco Ranch and inside Barker Reservoir, includes a main channel and diversion channel.

The work has begun downstream near the confluence of the Buffalo Bayou, and excavation will move upstream to the finishing point near the wastewater treatment plant.

“Currently, April 2020 is the projected completion timeframe, but as with any outdoor work, this estimation is dependent on weather conditions,” said Kalkomey.

The $4.3 million project – of which the Federal Emergency Management Agency will cover 90% of the construction costs – will remove about 184,000 cubic yards of silt from the diversion channel, he added.

Wendy Duncan, a director of the Willow Fork Drainage District, said that this project was ready to start in July 2018 but could not begin until Fort Bend County Drainage District completed its desilting project because the diversion channel acts as a silt trap for the bayou.