PORT NECHES — Every year Port Neches loses about a foot of shoreline along the river; Tropical Storm Harvey added to that figure exponentially.

Taylor Shelter, Port Neches public works director, said a measurement of sorts was done during the summer and when he checked again after Harvey he noted a six-to-eight-foot loss of land.

Erosion control is finally coming in the form of a rock breakwater. Port Neches City Manager Andre Wimer informed the Port Neches City Council members the city had received the final permit for the project from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

“The next step is to have a lease in please with the GLO (Texas General Land Office), then go out for bids,” Wimer said. “The timeframe is based on how quickly we are able to finalize documents with the GLO.”

The breakwater will be similar to that is being used along a portion of Pleasure Island in Port Arthur. It will be set about 30-feet off the existing shoreline for an estimated cost of $725,000 to $850,000.

The shoreline area in question is about 700 feet long and runs from Port Neches Riverfront Park to a canal/cut-in just before the Oak Bluff Cemetery property.

Once all of the required steps are taken, including the lease-and-bidding process, the project is expected to take about 90 days to complete.

Shelton said the city hopes to go out for bids around the time of the city’s annual RiverFest celebration so as not to interfere with the event and tunnel boat races.

The city hired LJA Engineering Inc. to look at alternatives to control the erosion in late 2015. The city was given several choices and decided on the rock breakwater as the best fit to go with their riverfront development plans.

In 2015, the city learned learned they were recipients of a Coastal Management Program grant in the amount of $150,000 from the Texas General Land Office for the removal of dilapidated structures and debris from the Neches River. Under the agreement, LJA provided necessary engineering services associated with the project at the cost of $24,000.

The city’s portion of the grant came in at $65,000.

The old docks were removed in 2016.

The city also received a Coastal Management Program grant in the amount of $75,000 from Texas GLO for planning/design associated with the riverfront property. The cost of this work provided by LJA is $71,500.

This portion involved planning and designs for the shoreline of the riverfront property with consideration given to various options and costs associated with shoreline protection and construction of aesthetic features along the shoreline.

In 2017, the city got the green light from legislators to create the Port Neches Improvement District as a way to bring needed infrastructure to develop the river property, including public water, sewer, drainage, roads, bulkheads and other needed infrastructure.

The city previously acquired and remediated the property with the intent of development as a means of tax diversification.