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The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Galveston District awarded a contract in the amount of $242,755.16 to Ross Labs LLC., for a multi-channel hydrographic sweep system for hydrographic surveying for the Rio Grande Valley Resident Office, Port Isabel, Texas.

“This contract will retrofit one of our survey vessels with extendable survey arms and a multi-channel survey system capable of collecting three lines of survey data on a single pass,” said Chip Worley, USACE Galveston District’s Southern Area Office engineer.

“It will greatly improve our efficiency and density of survey data. If this beta test is successful it will change the way the Galveston District surveys shallow-draft channels.”

According to Worley, the equipment is scheduled to be installed on a government survey boat (RGV-01) from Port Isabel next month. He added that hydrographic surveys will enable staff to identify shoaling areas along the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway for maintenance dredging purposes as well as provide a baseline survey for comparison purposes in the event of a hurricane or tropical storm.

The USACE Galveston District was established in 1880 as the first engineer district in Texas to oversee river and harbor improvements. The district is directly responsible for maintaining more than 1,000 miles of channel, including 270 miles of deep draft and 750 miles of shallow draft as well as the Colorado River Locks and Brazos River Floodgates.