Figure 6 shows the tip of Delcros Point, located on the opposite side of Pass Cavallo. 

 The photograph was taken on the same day as the photograph in Figure 2. The tip of 

 Delcros Point is low-lying, and the sand on it appears to be newly arrived. Delcros Point 

 is growing into Pass CavaUo, as is the recurved spit growing emerging from Matagorda 

 Island on the other side (Figure 2). Spits can grow from both sides because the discharge 

 through the inlet is decreasing. 



Figure 6. Distal end of Delcros Point, looking gulfward (September 1997) 



Matagorda ship channel 



The MSC is one of eight Federal channels of Texas that exit to the Gulf of Mexico 

 (Figure 1). Considerations leading to construction of the MSC are given in the U.S. 

 Army Engineer District, Galveston (1992) and in Simmons and Rhodes (1966). Quoting 

 USAED, Galveston (1992), "To secure a 12-ft-channel depth across tiie bar, a single jetty 

 was begun in 1881 at the south side of the pass, designed to extend 7,600 ft from 

 Matagorda Island. However, in 1888 the project was abandoned. In 1948, the 

 controlling depth was approximately 9 ft." According to Simmons and Rhodes (1966), 

 "In 1949, a channel with a controlling depth of 17 ft, width of 135 ft, and length of 

 3,000 ft was dredged across the outer bar at Pass Cavallo as an emergency measure to 

 reUeve the restricted navigation conditions. The channel was completed on 9 September 

 1949, but shoaled rapidly to a controlling depth of 10 ft by 2 November 1949 and to a 

 controlling depth of 8 ft in March 1952." No fiirther attempts were made to dredge Pass 

 Cavallo. 



It can be concluded that the significant width of Pass Cavallo made infeasible the 

 possibility of economically maintaining a reUable channel and that the cost of 

 constructing jetties to constrict the wide area would similarly be infeasible. Prior to 

 cutting the MSC, Pass Cavallo was approximately 8,000 ft wide. Presently, aerial 



Chapter 1 Background and Problem Statement 



