Architecture Profs Propose Enhancements For ‘Ike Dike’
A proposed “Ike Dike” to protect the Galveston/Houston area from hurricane storm surges should incorporate amenities such as business parks, public spaces and pedestrian thoroughfares, elements that could stimulate economic and social opportunities while enhancing the earthwork’s visual appeal, concludes research funded by Texas A&M’s Institute for Sustainable Coastal Communities.
The dike would consist of continuous 20- to 25-foot-tall, 70- to 90-foot-wide dunes running along Galveston Island and the Bolivar Peninsula with two giant flood gates at opposite ends of the island — one at San Luis Pass and another in the channel between the island and the peninsula. The dike was conceived by Bill Merrell, holder of the George P. Mitchell Chair of Marine Sciences at Texas A&M University at Galveston, as a response to extensive surge damage from 2008’s Hurricane Ike.
Continue reading on ArchOne.
This article originally appeared in ArchOne.
