Only Underwater Traffic Tunnel in Texas Closes for Repairs Two Years After Accident

The big state of Texas has all kinds of stuff when it comes to infrastructure but there’s one thing you won’t find in abundance, and that’s underwater traffic tunnels. There’s only one in the entire state, the Washburn Tunnel east of downtown Houston.

The toll-free tunnel goes under the Houston Ship Channel, connecting the communities of Galena Park and Pasadena (the refinery town made famous in the 1980 movie “Urban Cowboy”.) Officials say during the week it carries up to 27,000 vehicles a day.

Built in 1950 at a cost of $7 million, the Washburn Tunnel is just under 3800 feet long, taking drivers 68 feet below the ship channel. Atop the tunnel’s entrance there’s a large midcentury structure containing high-speed blower fans that provide ventilation. Because of its unique trench design, the Washburn Tunnel was included on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008.

Also in 2008, all large vehicles were banned from the tunnel including 18-wheelers. But in September 2010, that didn’t stop a big rig driver from trying to enter. Gail Miller is with Harris County Precinct 2, the governmental entity that operates the tunnel, and she tells what happened next.

“We had an 18-wheeler, about 3:30 in the morning, drive by the guard shack. The guard was out, the flags were out, he drove right around then and headed into the tunnel. Well, he’s too big to get into the tunnel, and he hit the north portal wall, damaging the brick and the metal behind it.”

Once inside the tunnel, Miller says the truck collapsed and it took about seven hours to remove the wreckage. The driver wound up going to jail. Now two years later, crews are at work repairing the damage.

Miller says at the time of the accident, the damage wasn’t considered severe enough to close the tunnel to traffic. As for why it’s taken so long to do the repairs, Miller says they had to settle insurance claims, and because of the tunnel’s historic status, they had to find the proper materials to make the repairs to the tunnel’s entrance.

“Any changes to a historic building have to be run by the Texas Historical Commission, and they have to be matched in terms of brickwork.”

The tunnel will be closed to traffic on weekends through April 2 to make those repairs. So what does that mean for drivers? Traffic will be funneled onto several other ship channel crossings, including the East I-610 Loop, the Sam Houston Parkway toll bridge and the State Highway 146 Fred Hartman Bridge (which replaced another tunnel, the Baytown Tunnel, in 1995). Drivers also have the option of using the Lynchburg Ferry, which will have expanded hours during the Washburn Tunnel’s closure.

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source: Transportation Nation (Delaughter, 3/20)



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25,000 unsafe toys seized at Port of Houston

Consumer safety inspectors at the Port of Houston have seized more toys deemed unsafe for children - largely because of choking hazards and lead paint - than almost any other consumer product imported to the United States, second only to fireworks.

The toys, 25,000 of them, are among 117,000 foreign products like mattresses, electronic devices, lighters, bike helmets and all-terrain vehicles confiscated in Houston by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission from 2010 through 2011.

Even now, dozens of boxes of toy bears imported from China are parked at an inspection station on North Wayside Road.

"If the bear's nose and eyes can be easily pulled off, those small parts could choke children," said David McCabe, the compliance investigator at the port as he pulled parts from a toy bear to test them in a cylinder. "Anything that fits in the cylinder is too risky for children to play with."

Nationwide, 19 investigators assigned to the busiest ports have confiscated, among other things, toy guns, cars, trucks, helicopters and dolls containing lead paint, lead content, phthalates and small parts deemed dangerous. Phthalates are chemicals used in plastics and other products.

"In response to the lead in paint recalls in 2007, CPSC started to place investigators at key ports of entry full time," said Carol Cave, the director of the Office of Import Surveillance and Inspection.

Faced with a swell of concern and 45 million children's toys and products recalled about five years ago, Congress in 2008 boosted the budget of the CPSC and required it to set up a website where consumers can both register complaints and read reports posted by others.

"We think the products being turned back stopped people from shipping stuff here in the first place. Now they're not sure if they are able to get in," said Nancy Cowles, executive director of Chicago-based Kids in Danger, a consumer advocacy group. "It's a very effective program to keep unsafe toys from our children."

Lead is believed to cause both brain damage and behavioral problems in children. A number of studies have linked phthalates to early puberty in girls, genital defects and reduced testosterone production in boys.

In 2010, there were 17 toy-related deaths and 181,500 injuries among children of 15 or younger, according a CPSC report. Eleven of the deaths were from asphyxiation or choking.

Most seized products come from China, although collaboration with the Chinese government has reduced the number of recalls, officials said. CPSC established an office in Beijing last year to make it easier to communicate with Chinese officials about safety problems, like toxic metals in toys.

Currently, 45 percent of imported consumer products and 90 percent of toys sold in the United States come from China and Hong Kong.

Products from South America like jewelry also are stopped for containing lead or cadmium.

The Port of Houston imports more foreign waterborne tonnage than any other U.S. port. McCabe is responsible for inspecting 150 shipments a year, or one every other day.

With the ongoing Panama Canal expansion project, the number of containers handled by the Port of Houston through the canal could grow by 15 percent in the next few years, according to the Houston Port Authority.

Determining whether a foreign shipment should be destroyed is a stringent process.

CPSC investigators first test the product with tools in the field and send product samples to labs in Maryland.

"The lab will use a device that mimics a child's strength to try to pull the eyes and noses from the bear, which can produce a precise result," said McCabe.


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source: Houston Chronicle (Wang, 1/23)