WILLIAMSON COUNTY, Texas -- Nearly three months after a water line broke and a cave collapsed, revealing cave chambers under three homes in the Brushy Creek neighborhood in Williamson County, officials have submitted a "cave closure proposal" to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ).
On April 24, Williamson County officials said they submitted the proposal which includes excavating all rock and debris so that there is a "clean cave floor." It also includes capping the cave so that direct surface water runoff "is not conveyed directly into the aquifer," officials said.
"Our objective is to get the road open again," said Connie Odom, spokesperson for Williamson County. "Also, not to allow any run off to go directly into the cave. It was a closed cave to begin with, and that’s the way to keep it in it’s most natural state, is to close the cave again."
The proposal also includes a plan to further explore the "void" or fifth chamber that was discovered in March during core sample drilling around the cave opening.
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Once the plan is approved by the TCEQ, details of the plan will be released to the public. And the county will begin to take bids from companies for road repair.
Crews with BGE, an engineering consulting firm, mapped the the cave Tuesday using new, 3D mapping technology. This will give an accurate picture of the exact size of the cave.
“Everything has been with hand measurements," said Odom. "This is measuring (the cave) with lasers.”
The 3D mapping could also help the county estimate the cost of fixing the road.
The cavern was found on Cambria Drive when a 20-foot hole opened up Feb. 8. County officials and environmental consultants found that the cave in Cambria Drive starts approximately in the middle of the roadway 20 feet west of the curb, and heads east by approximately 200 feet. It gets smaller underneath the homes. The height of the cave was found to have varying heights of approximately 22 feet near the entrance with an average of 10 to 15 feet throughout.
The county at this time cannot say when Cambria Drive will reopen nor when the TCEQ will approve or make changes to their plan.
KVUE spoke with neighbor Evelyn Kelley, who lives across the street from the cave opening. She has become frustrated with months of waiting for the road to be fixed and having crews show up in front of her driveway.
"It's just been going on for a long time," she said. "It's just getting to me."
Kelley said she and her husband are trying to get a property tax reduction due to the cave and road closure.
They were also trying to sell their house.
"Right now, the house should be on the market," said Kelley. "But we can't put our house on the market because of that," she said pointing to the cave.