River wall: TxSt plans to rock out

By Anita Miller
News Editor

San Marcos May 01, 2008 11:12 am

— It won’t be a new Rio Vista Falls, but a makeover of a collapsed retaining wall near the headwaters of the San Marcos River will leave the area much changed.
And if all goes well, the process could get under way as early as Monday.
Pat Fogarty, Texas State University vice president for facilities, said Wednesday that all the necessary “permits and permissions” have been secured to rebuild a portion of the wall that abuts from the Saltgrass Steakhouse.
“We’re going to start mobilizing on Monday provided all the materials have been obtained by the construction contractor,” which is San Marcos-based Myers Construction, Fogarty said.
Officials blamed age and the force of the water coming through the old Spring Lake Dam chute for the deterioration of the wall which collapsed two years ago.
Fogarty said instead of pouring a new concrete wall, the plan is to stabilize the soil, put down a “filter fabric” to keep it stabilized and then stack boulders to form a more natural looking “wing wall.”
He stressed that efforts will be undertaken before work begins to relocate any of the river’s endangered species that might be impacted by the project.
“It won’t be as artfully done as Rio Vista Falls,” he said. “This will just be a sloped wall coming out.”
About 70 feet of the wall collapsed and Fogarty said the work to replace it will begin with taking out one dead tree stump.
“We’re not changing any of the water features, just basically replacing a vertical wall with a sloped wall,” he said.
Unlike eight years ago when public access to the area was cut off while Spring Lake Dam was rebuilt, the project shouldn’t interfere with anyone’s swimming, snorkeling or tubing in the area.
“We’ll have to fence off a small portion of the work area for safety, but there will be nothing to prevent people from getting into the river that I can see.”
He added that the only exception might come when the boulders — which are being relocated from West Campus — are being lowered by crane. “We’ll have to make sure people don’t walk under a crane. We’ll supervise it to make sure it’s safe.”
Fogarty said he’s unsure how long the project will take, though the construction company estimates a few weeks.