Captain Clyde A. Barbour Inducted into Texas Transportation Hall of Honor
Captain Clyde A. Barbour was posthumously inducted into the Texas Transportation Hall of Honor at a luncheon on June 26 at Sylvan Beach Pavilion in La Porte, Texas, near his namesake facilities: Barbours Cut inlet and Barbours Terminal at Port Houston. He was nominated by his great-granddaughter, Nancy Potter, who accepted the honor on Barbour’s behalf.
A young and ambitious steamboat captain and resident of Houston for 20 years in the early 1900s, Barbour recognized the potential for expanding waterborne commerce in the Houston Ship Channel. He envisioned and undertook a bold endeavor to cut the five-hour trip in half for ships traveling from the Gulf of Mexico to Port Houston. He accomplished this by dredging an inlet that included a turning basin off the Houston Ship Channel only two and a half hours from the Gulf of Mexico. He named the inlet and terminal Barbours Cut and Barbours Terminal, respectively.
His ambitious project catapulted Port Houston to the forefront of container activity in the Gulf Coast and helped transform the port into the fastest-growing container port in the United States and the first in overall tonnage.
Barbour also owned the Galveston, Harrisburg and Houston Transportation Company, as well as other companies, and was awarded the contract in 1910 to supply concrete for the first great causeway over Galveston Bay between Galveston Island and the mainland. This contract helped make building materials one of the largest branches of trade in Houston.
Texas A&M System Agencies Work Together to Make History on Recent UTC Proposals
The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) recently announced grant awards for eight University Transportation Centers (UTCs) in which Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU), the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (TEES), TTI and Texas A&M University will lead or assist over the next five years. Of historical note is PVAMU’s selection to lead the National Center for Infrastructure Transformation, making the institution the first-ever Historically Black College or University to lead a national UTC.
The National Center for Infrastructure Transformation will “develop and transfer into practice new technologies or approaches not currently deployed in the transportation system, including novel data and technology approaches related to artificial intelligence and environmental stewardship and resilience,” according to USDOT. The work of the center will aim to improve the durability and resiliency of transportation infrastructure for years to come.
In addition to serving in consortia on PVAMU’s national UTC, TEES, TTI and Texas A&M will collectively serve as partner institutions on six tier-1 UTCs and one regional UTC, headlined by the renewal of the TTI-led Center for Advancing Research in Transportation Emissions, Energy and Health tier-1 UTC. Research priorities for these seven UTCs will each address one of the following areas:
- improving the durability and extending the life of transportation infrastructure,
- conducting coastal research and education,
- improving the mobility of people and goods,
- preserving the existing transportation system, and
- promoting safety.
