PARKS&RECREATION RioVista Falls project completion timelinemoved tomid-May
BY ERIC WEILBACHER
amount due in part to those delays. “On several occasions, they’ve been sliced overnight, and the contractor comes back, and the work area is lled with water, so he’s got to patch those barriers, reset everything up and pump water out,” Schwarz said. In 2006, the city initially trans- formed the area from a single dam into three sets of rapids, according to a press release. The structures endured strong ow and three major ooding events in that time, creating underwater voids, undercuts to the bank and other damage. The scope of the project includes deepening the foundation toe of the bank and instream structures and adding a protective layer of rock around the foundation. Work is mostly complete on the two rapid structures that are more upstream, but the downstream structure is requiring added work, Schwarz said.
Maintenance work on Rio Vista Falls, which has caused a portion of the San Marcos River to be closed since October, will continue through mid-May. The closure runs from above the falls in Rio Vista Park and under the bridge at Cheatham Street. The $966,000 project, funded through city general funds, was projected to be completed in March, but delays—some of which resulted from vandalism to the blue water- lled barriers used to drain the river and divert water for foundation work on the river bed—have extended the timeline, said Greg Schwarz, a senior engineer with San Marcos Capital Improvements and Engineering. He said the project, which is being completed by Austin Filter Systems Inc. Construction, might end up costing up to $100,000 over the initial
The blue water storage containers seen here are what have been repeatedly sliced open or punctured, resulting in construction delays.
“We had concerns about its integ- rity and lasting for many years in the future,” Schwarz said. He added that extra ow pressure on the left bank created accelerated erosion. “We are now in the process, the contractor is in the process of redoing that chute. And once he does that, he has a little more bank work to do in that area, and then they will be done and nished with the project.” As most of the work on Rio Vista Falls is underwater and foundational in nature, most of the work will go unnoticed once the falls reopen, Schwarz said. The third rapid down- stream, however, will have notable changes with a slight change in ow
RIO VISTA PARK
RIO VISTA FALLS
SAN MARCOS RIVER
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allowing for a walking path for pedes- trians due to better stabilization on the right bank. Once complete, work will begin upstream that will close o Dog Beach access, but access to the river will not be blocked on the opposite bank.
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SAN MARCOS BUDA KYLE EDITION • APRIL 2022
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