The first big construction job on the Central City flood control project north of downtown has a start date: February 2027.
Kate Beck, a program manager for the Tarrant Regional Water District, gave the district's board that timeline on Tuesday, the Fort Worth Report reported. Work will begin on the bypass's north channel, and Beck told directors the full project should take about three years.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers awarded a $169 million contract for the first half of that channel last month to The Walsh Group, a Chicago construction firm, according to the Report. When complete, the north bypass will run 3,900 feet, with a 300-foot-wide bottom, and concrete floodwalls plus an earthen levee will keep the water in the channel.
Streets, walkways and trails built with it will tie into the Trinity Trails.
Why the channel is being dug
The $1.6 billion federal project is meant to route Trinity River floodwaters away from roughly 2,400 acres of downtown and Historic Northside property, homes and businesses alike. North and south channels will together create the man-made island known as Panther Island.
Beck told the board the existing 27-mile levee system, which the Corps began building in the 1950s, was designed for a city of about 350,000 people and could not withstand a flood on the scale of the disasters that prompted it, the Report said.
The groundbreaking had been expected in spring 2026 before funding disputes last year delayed it. The Corps expects to seek bids on the south channel by summer 2027, provided the district has enough money by then, Beck said, adding that the district is looking at other funding sources to speed things up.
