Mark Janneck on Seeing Subsidence Firsthand
Subsidence isn’t just a concept—it’s something engineers can measure. Mark Janneck shares an experience from a project following Hurricane Ike that revealed nearly four feet of land subsidence and reinforced the importance of converting from groundwater to surface water.
Transcript
Transcript edited for clarity and readability.
Before I got on the board, the consulting firm I was working for completed a project at the HCAD building. We were tasked with installing generators after Hurricane Ike.
At that time, CenterPoint wouldn’t allow us to tie into the existing transformers. We had to abandon the old transformers and install a new transformer. That meant the new transformers had to be one foot above the 100-year floodplain, so we had to obtain a certified elevation certificate for CenterPoint.
We hired surveyors to come out and compare the site to the 30-year-old elevation plan from when the building was first constructed.
By that time, there was almost four feet of subsidence on the backside of the property.
If you go to the HCAD building and drive around to the back, you’ll see those transformers elevated almost six feet in the air.
It’s just one example of how real subsidence is in our area and how important it is to convert from groundwater to surface water.
Watch more from The People Behind the Progress Video Series:
https://www.whcrwa.com/people-behind-the-progress/
