Ensuring Safe Development at Houston Spaceport

May 4, 2021

Ed Hawkinson Resized

Edward Hawkinson

Environmental/ Geology Subject Matter Expert

With the ultimate goal of supporting the future of commercial spaceflight, Houston Spaceport is already attracting aerospace and aviation companies including Axiom Space, Intuitive Machines, and another with plans to establish an aviation training center. Site development for the 153-acre Phase I was recently completed with a budget of $18.8 million, which was approved back in 2018. 

To ensure success of this project, a stable and safe foundation was essential for the space center improvements, so HVJ Associates was selected to provide comprehensive and complex geologic faulting delineation services to identify and delineate a fault hazard band. Without this it was likely that any utilities, pavement and structures within the project area would be impacted by both vertical and horizontal fault movement in the future. 

HVJ’s precision analysis involved both published and unpublished literature on faulting in the areas, along with site reconnaissance, but the more amusing aspect of the project was repeatedly driving vehicles over the anticipated scarp location to document the unavoidable 'bump' of the scarp Additionally, HVJ’s team installed a series of advanced deep boreholes and provided geophysical logging of each.  Read more about the project here.

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