The Shade Curtain Barrier, a new storm surge barrier concept for the San Luis Pass (Texas)

Many low-lying, densely populated coastal areas across the world are under threat of hurricane-induced floods. In response to this threat for the upper Texas coast, the U.S. army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has proposed a plan to reduce the risk of flooding for the Greater Houston-Galveston Metropolitan Area (GHMA) and Galveston Bay. This plan includes a storm surge barrier at the entrance channel to Galveston Bay (Bolivar Roads), while the other inlet at San Luis Pass (SLP) remains open. However, leaving SLP open could still result in a significant rise in the water level of Galveston Bay during storm impact, potentially weakening the overall flood risk reduction strategy. This paper introduces and conceptualizes an innovative barrier for the San Luis Pass. It would protect against storm surge, while also taking the local natural habitat and landscape into account. Conventional storm surge barriers do not fulfill all these requirements for the San Luis Pass. The “Shade Curtain Barrier” concept is proposed as a new barrier type. It functions by being deployed (i.e., rolled down) from the highway bridge across SLP ahead of forecast extreme conditions and stored rolled-up underneath the bridge during normal conditions. The main advantage of this barrier is that it has very limited impacts on flows, sedimentation, and the environment in daily conditions. Preliminary structural calculations have been made to test the resistance of the barrier and simple experiments have been conducted to test its performance on both glass and sandy bottoms. Although the concept is in a very early stage of development, it is a promising solution for a storm surge barrier at SLP to contribute to a resilient Texas coast and it may also be of interest for other bays and estuaries. However, further research is required to verify the functionality and safety of this type of barrier.