By Susan Tallant/editor-in-chief
Building a floodwall could be added to the to-do list for construction of the new TCC downtown campus. But the evaluation process is extensive, so the exact cost and need will not be known until late spring or early summer, TCC officials said.
“ We have been working with the Corps of Engineers for several months to develop an engineering and construction solution for building piers that support buildings on the north side of the river and a pedestrian bridge,” David Wells, vice chancellor for operations and planning services, said.
Contrary to a news story that ran last week, Wells said the floodwall is just one of the proposed solutions being evaluated.
“ We have not been ordered to do anything,” he said. “And it is too early in the process to say that this will cause a delay in construction or an increase in cost.”
Clay Church, public affairs specialist, said the Army Corps of Engineers is working closely with the TCC engineers to come up with a mutual design that would not violate the structures of the levees and keep the original design in place.
Church said building and design for this type of project is an ongoing process.
“ There are some issues with the original design once presented to us, so we went back to TCC and said,
‘ You are not going to be able to drill into the levees,’” he said.
Church said the floodwall is just one of many different proposals to protect the levees.
“ No one from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has ordered TCC to do anything at this point,” he said.
John Dawson, director of facilities planning at TCC, said the purpose of the floodwall is to keep water in the channel in the banks of the Trinity and out of the plain on the north side of the levee.
“ We want it to be aesthetically pleasing to compliment the campus but also meet requirements of the Corps of Engineers,” he said.
Tahita Fulkerson, associate vice chancellor of teaching and president of the downtown campus, said design work and construction activities are ongoing and TCCD intends to do nothing that would damage or endanger the protective levee system.
“ The college does not yet have enough information about the implications of building a floodwall to be able to comment on what effect—if any—it would have on our schedule,” she said.
