North Texas Sediment Budget: Sabine Pass to San Luis Pass
Abstract
The North Texas sediment budget was developed to support the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Galveston District's Sabine Pass to Galveston Bay, Texas, Shoreline Feasibility Study. Data sources included dredging data from the 1970s to the present, beach fill quantities, sediment grain size statistics, aerial photographs, shoreline data, and information from the literature and historical sources. For this study area, 23 sediment cells have been defined based on prominent morphologic or man-made features. In general, longshore sediment movement is from east to west, although reversals occur east of Sabine Pass, south of Rollover Pass, and south of Galveston entrance. Sabine Pass is heavily dredged, but material from the jetties and further landward is disposed on land. Therefore, the pass is primarily a source of fine-grain material, which disperses over the shoreface. At Galveston entrance, about 25 percent of the sediment in the channel is fine-grained material from Galveston Bay, with the remainder supplied from littoral sources from north and south of the jetties. The quantity of sand entering Galveston harbor via the south jetty or by aeolian transport is about 300,000 cu m/year. To balance the budget at Galveston entrance, significant onshore transport must occur on both sides. A sediment node occurs off the Galveston seawall, with material moving to the northeast towards East Beach and to the southwest along the island, eventually to San Luis Pass.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 2006
- Accession Number
- ADA456230
Entities
People
- Andrew Morang
Organizations
- Engineer Research and Development Center