Small craft can find excellent protection in the harbor at Freeport. Numerous small piers and wharves are along the waterfront. There are numerous small-craft facilities along the Intracoastal Waterway between the Freeport Harbor Channel and the entrance to Oyster Creek.
Freeport Coast Guard Station is on the N side of the entrance channel.
Navigation:
Click the “Map View” button above to see a chart of this harbor.
Freeport Harbor, lying 40 miles SW of Galveston entrance, is the harbor for the town of Freeport. The area is known locally as Brazosport. The principal industry is the Dow Chemical Corporation which operates two large plants. Other industries are oil, sulfur, and shrimp. Oil and chemical products are the principal exports. The Intracoastal Waterway crosses Old Brazos River about 1 mile above the jettied entrance. At this point, the Dow Barge Canal leads N and the river channel W. Old Brazos River has been dammed about 6 miles above the jettied entrance. Below the dam, the old river channel is now a tidal estuary and the harbor is protected against flood conditions in the river.
The ship channel has been improved by construction of jetties on either side of the entrance. Federal project depths are 47 feet from deep water in the Gulf to the jetty channel, thence 45 feet to the upper turning basin, in the channel to Brazosport turning basin and in the turning basin, in the channel to the upper turning basin and in the upper turning basin, thence 36 feet in the Brazos Harbor approach channel and turning basin, thence 25 feet to and in Stauffer turning basin.
A vertical lift tide gate with a horizontal clearance of 75 feet, a reported vertical clearance of 69 feet, and a depth over the sill of 16 feet, crosses the channel just above Stauffer turning basin. The tide gate is closed during hurricane conditions or when tides are 2.5 feet or more above normal.
Above Stauffer turning basin, a depth of 10 to 12 feet can be carried to the wharves at Freeport.
No bridges cross the channel from the entrance to the upper turning basin. An overhead power cable with a clearance of 63 feet crosses the harbor just above the Stauffer turning basin. A fixed highway bridge with a clearance of 60 feet crosses the harbor about 0.4 mile above the turning basin; overhead telephone cables at the bridge have clearances of 107 feet. The Missouri-Pacific railroad bridge, with a swing span having a clearance of 11 feet, crosses the harbor about 1 mile above the turning basin. In 2010, a vertical lift bridge was under construction with a design clearance of 69 feet; upon completion it will replace the swing bridge. A highway bridge that has a 36-foot fixed channel span and a clearance of 20 feet is about 0.3 mile above the railroad bridge. An overhead power cable at the bridge has a clearance of 58 feet.
A speed limit of 8 m.p.h. for all vessels proceeding in the channels and 5 m.p.h. while passing the wharf, dock, or moored craft is enforced.
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