Bay Area Transmission Line (BATL/SETL Contract D)

The Bay Area Transmission Line Project (BATL) is part of the City of Houston’s replacement of the existing Southeast Transmission Line (SETL). Nearing the end of its service life, this project is intended to replace and up-size an existing 24-inch transmission line that connects from the existing SETL on Highway 3 through to Beamer Rd and the existing BATL along Bay Area Blvd. The project consists of 14,500 LF of 36-inch water line, consisting of 12,000 LF of open cut and 2,600 LF of tunneling. A few hundred feet of smaller 24-inch, 20-inch, and 12-inch water lines are also part of the project to facilitate water plant and local distribution system connections. The water line goes through public rights-of-way and private easements inside the City of Webster through which the water line crosses 24 pipelines, a railroad, and two TxDOT highways (I-45 & Hwy 3). The water line further will cross Bay Area Blvd, a major thoroughfare in the Webster area. A large portion runs parallel to an HCFCD drainage channel for which design requirements also need to be met. The design is currently approaching the 90% phase and is expected to be advertised after easement acquisitions in mid-2024. Construction is anticipated to last 16 months with an overall cost estimate of approximately $20 million.