Brays Bayou TECO Improvements

Brays Bayou TECO Improvements

Houston
Texas

The Texas Medical Center’s (TMC) Thermal Energy Cooperative (TECO) provides thermal energy (chilled water and steam) to the member institutions of the largest medical center in the world. Tremendous growth in the TMC made a major expansion of the TECO main plant a necessity. At the same time, the Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) was in the process of executing Project Brays, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers federal project to widen and reduce the floodplain of Brays Bayou. In order to make room for the expansion, we worked with TECO and HCFCD to develop a plan to accomplish the Project Brays section between Braeswood Boulevard and Fannin Street while allowing for the expansion of the TECO plant into the Brays Bayou easement. Design of the channel improvements and associated improvements involved coordination with the TECO plant expansion design-build team, the Project Brays planning team and the City of Houston. Our engineers were enlisted for a variety of projects including lengthening of the existing bridge across Brays Bayou, the widening of Brays Bayou adjacent to the TECO plant, rebuilding the pedestrian and bicycle ramps, and the installation of drilled shaft retaining walls with architectural features.