The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Galveston District (SWG), has operated the Brazos River Floodgates since 1943.
Located seven miles southwest of Freeport, Texas, the Brazos River Flood Gates (BRFG) have been instrumental in mitigating sediment deposits and aiding navigation at the intersection of the Brazos River and the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GIWW) for eight decades.
The primary mission of BRFG Champions is to facilitate the safe navigation of commercial and recreation vessels through the GIWW and Brazos River interchange, which currently includes a 60-degree angle change from the West Gate and the East Gate.
Jesse Deshotels has been the Brazos River Floodgates Lockmaster since 2022.
Deshotels began working as a district summer hire in 1999 and began his full-time career with SWG in 2004.
“I started out as a lock operator at the Colorado River Locks (CRL),” Deshotels said. “I was a lock operator for five years and got promoted to maintenance mechanic.”
Deshotels worked as a maintenance mechanic there for 12 years before he transferred to the BRFG to take over the Lockmaster role.
“I am ensuring this place runs as smoothly and efficiently as possible,” Deshotels said. “It's an 81-year-old facility, so things tend to break, and I will ensure that the lock operators and mechanics have everything they need to do their job efficiently, and as safely as possible.”
Both the BRFG, and the CRL are manage by the SWG Operations Division.
“When you're dealing with aging infrastructure, you see the value of maintenance and mechanics,” Deshotels said, “When it comes to keeping this stuff serviceable.”
Deshotels works with a team of 10 lock operators and an administrative assistant, which is always manned and operated. Tow traffic typically does not stop, unless the water conditions get too rough.
The BRFG team sees about forty tugs a day, Deshotels said, many pushing up to four barges. At the BRFG, it’s common practice for tugs pushing multiple barges to moor one or more barge on either side of the junction and cross multiple times or “trip” the Brazos River.
“Almost everybody ‘trips’ the Brazos River as it intersects the Gulf Intracoastal Water Way,” Deshotels said, “We have a 60-degree turn on the river. That's hard to navigate, so they'll tie their barges up and just bring one at a time through.”
Tug and tow captains must account for several environmental factors every time they trip the Brazos; prevailing winds, tides, and water speed, Deshotels said. “A lot of times they're working against each other.”
The barges typically hold thousands of tons of goods, anywhere from 1,500 to 3,500.
“They crunch the metal walls sometimes,” Deshotels said. “Tows can come in too fast and damage the sheet-metal walls lining the gates.”
The GIWW is an artery for commerce. Oil and gas products, concrete, scrap metal, corn, and sugar can all be seen by lock operators as barges pass through, along with personal watercraft traffic, Deshotels said.
The Lockmaster describes the BRFG as a customer service portal, which provides information to vessel captains so they can make informed decisions on how to cross from one side of the GIWW to another, through the sometimes ripping, crossflowing waters of the Brazos River.
“At 20,000 cubic feet per second (CFS) mark, is where we go on restrictions,” Deshotels said. “That means we will restrict tow traffic from one, two, three or four barges, restrict them down to taking one load or two empties at a time.”
When the river gets over 5 mph, which is about the 40,000 cubic feet per second mark, we will restrict them to one load or one empty during daylight hours only and we'll shut down to nighttime traffic, Deshotels continued.
“Every day it's something new, just like today,” Deshotels said. “This is the first time in my 20 years that we're dealing with a river rise, and a storm out in the Gulf causing these high tides that that are affecting our machinery.”
Despite the challenges associated with managing the day-to-day operations of a complex part of the GIWW infrastructure, Deshotels said, he thoroughly enjoys the unique challenges it presents, which he and his team work together to solve, safely and swiftly.