(Credit: City of Austin)
For more than a year, Austin’s Watershed Department has been focused on an eroding cliff along Shoal Creek that has been threatning homes and causing rock and debris to fall onto the greenbelt below. Recently, engineers called on the city to spend $12.5-million on new contracts to begin reinforcing the slope, but now it appears that won’t be enough.
According to a new memo from the Watershed Department, an additional $7.5-million may be needed to make sure there is enough money to cover all of the necessary repairs.
“The uncertainty in total project budget is still high, given the continued dynamic nature of the slope, the geologic unknowns still buried under the landslide, and unforeseen weather. Therefore, staff recommends that, to conservatively estimate a total project construction budget that will not require additional Council authorization, we include a significant cost contingency on this authorization request,” said Interim Director Jose M. Guerrero.
The extra money is said to be needed in the event that more damage is discovered while the reinforcement effort is underway.
Failure to secure enough funding could have devastating consequences for homes in the area, according to engineer Mike Kelly.
“Essentially, we’ve now lost our margin of safety,” said Kelly at the June 5, 2019 meeting of the Environmental Commission. “The next time this goes, it will start taking significant additional private infrastructure.”
The two previous slope failures have caused damage to backyards, but Kelly predicts the impacts to be far broader than that if the slope fails a third time.
“Not just backyards and a fence, but it’ll start being pools and houses,” Kelly said.
As for the likelihood of another collapse, Kelly says it’s all but imminent.
The work is expected to be complete by September.
