The artifacts were first discovered back in 2005 and have to be removed as part of the effort to deepen the Texas City Channel. The Army Corps of Engineers has commercial divers in the water to remove a sunken Civil War ship, the USS Westfield, and its contents, including a cannon.
The ship was sunken nearly 150 years ago in the Battle of Galveston. Right now, divers are meeting pretty hefty challenges, like low visibility in the water and strong currents.
Remember, these are artifacts, so divers have to find stable ground and carefully remove the items without damaging anything. As part of the recovery, the US Coast Guard has also slowed traffic in the Houston Ship Channel and stopped all traffic in the Texas City channel during dive operations.
The removal will cost a little more than $3 million and should take between four and six weeks to complete. The artifacts will eventually make their way into a museum for everyone to see.
