GALVESTON BAY -- Just off the coast in Galveston Bay, members of the U.S. Coast Guard went straight into rush hour as ships lined up waiting to enter the Houston, Galveston and Texas City ship channels.

In the days following Hurricane Ike, those vessels were not getting into the bay as they lined up in the Gulf of Mexico after the channel markers and the aids to navigation were wiped away by the storm.

The waterways may have taken a beating, but the Coast Guard fought back.

“We had 718 aids to navigation throughout the area that were either destroyed or significantly damaged,” said Coast Guard Commander Hal Pitts.

When the channels went down in Galveston Bay, so did the commerce bound for the ports of Galveston and Houston as well as the Texas City industrial complex.

To replace those navigation aids, the Coast Guard is conducting what is considered one of the largest recovery efforts in history. So far, the Coast Guard has replaced 681 of the 718 aids to navigation that were destroyed by Ike.

“It was a major effort and a lot of hard work went on the part of our young Coast Guard personnel,” said Commander Pitts

As a result, the ports are now back up and running 24 hours a day.