ACEC Houston

We are honored to graduate the 2026 Emerging Leaders. Thank you for your dedicated participation this year and for expanding our recruitment efforts at local colleges into the field of civil engineering. Additional thanks to your firms for supporting the program.

We had a wonderful Annual Meeting this year, joined by County Tom Ramsey Harris Co. Commissioner PCT 3, and Director of Houston Public Works, Randy Macchi. They inducted our 2026-2027 Board of Directors and helped graduate the participants in this year's Emerging Leaders program, which recruits a new generation of leaders to ACEC by introducing them to its mission, goals, and activities. Commissioner Ramsey and Director Macchi also sat down with our President, Emily Anderson, PE, PMP, to discuss their current work and challenges, and how we can support them.

Thanks to all of our members who work so hard to make our organization impactful to firms and the industry. We look forward to a successful new year.

A warm welcome to our new ACEC member firms: ABCO Products Inc. and Fisher Associates. We look forward to working with you to improve the business environment for engineering and design infrastructure for the health, safety, and welfare of the community.

Speaking during the International Conference on Coastal Engineering in Galveston last week, Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham and Gulf Coast Protection District Executive Director Coalter Baker defended the pace of the Coastal Texas Project, arguing the region’s complex engineering, environmental and economic realities require caution as federal funding slowly ramps up.

The state has put in over $500 million to the project,” Buckingham said. “The feds are just now starting to chip in money.” Recent federal appropriations are helping advance the project through its preconstruction engineering and design phase, officials said. Baker described that phase as a critical milestone in moving the project closer to eventual construction.

State leaders defend slow-moving Ike D**e as funding finally begins to flow Supporters of long-discussed coastal barrier system acknowledge the massive storm surge protection system — commonly referred to as the Ike D**e — remains years, and likely decades, away from full

We take Public Works Week as an opportunity to thank agencies and departments for our ongoing partnerships focused on providing the best infrastructure possible to the citizens in the Houston region. Providing sufficient, high-quality, well-maintained infrastructure in a timely manner is key to the health, safety, and quality of life of communities and addressing future growth.
, , ; Houston Public Works; Harris County Engineering Department

The Texas Transportation Commission recently approved a $1.47 billion design-build contract for the State Highway 99 Grand Parkway Segment B-1 in Brazoria and Galveston counties. The final award and ex*****on is expected this summer, with a projected overall completion date of late 2031 or 2032. The project is approximately 15 miles in length and will provide important connectivity and serve as an emergency evacuation route.

Big toll road project set to reshape Houston-area travel The 15-mile stretch is inching closer to construction.

Bellaire officially broke ground Monday on the long-awaited Cypress Ditch flood control project, a major construction effort aimed at reducing repeated flooding in southwest Houston neighborhoods.
Crews will widen and reconstruct the existing drainage channel from South Rice to Brays Bayou, increasing stormwater capacity by about 60%. The project has been years in the making, involving extensive planning and funding talks before finally reaching this milestone.

Bellaire breaks ground on flood control project decades in the making Bellaire officially broke ground on the Cypress Ditch flood control project, a long-awaited effort to widen and reconstruct a drainage channel

Texas is home to the most bridges in the nation, and according to transportation officials, the vast majority are in remarkably good condition. Jessica Butler, safety operations senior director with the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), said "Texas has almost 57,000 bridges, which is the largest bridge inventory of any state in the nation and more than double the size of the next largest state's." A small number—less than one percent—of Texas bridges are in poor condition. The number is notable considering the state's rapid population growth and, subsequently, increased traffic.

Texas bridges receive surprising grade in new report Texas has nearly 57,000 bridges statewide. Officials just released a new condition report.

Houston Public Works