Cambria Cave Update: Williamson County Gets TCEQ OK On Fixes

WILLIAMSON COUNTY, TX — County officials on Friday received regulatory approval on their proposed plan to mitigate the destructive aftermath of a road collapse that occurred after an underground cave network gave way in February.

In a press advisory, Williamson County officials said they submitted an amendment to the previously approved Encountered Feature Mitigation Plan for the cave on Cambria Drive to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) on Thursday and received the regulatory agency's approval on Friday.

The plan includes boring two holes from the road surface into the upper level and lower level of a recently discovered fifth cave chamber and then filling both with flowable concrete, officials said.

"This will provide stability for the roadway and utilities as well as protect the aquifer from potential contamination associated with utility reconstruction," county officials explained.

The original remediation work can be conducted concurrently while the fifth chamber is being filled, county officials noted. Work is expected to resume next week, they added.

On Feb. 8, a cave under Cambria Drive was discovered when the cave roof collapsed, and a water pipe was broken affecting water service to nearby homes. The cave starts at approximately the middle of the Cambria Drive 20 feet west of the curb and heads east approximately 200 feet and north approximately 45 feet, officials said. The street collapse happened in the early morning hours at the Woods of Brushy Creek neighborhood situated between Highway 183 and Cedar Park on the west and Interstate 35 and Round Rock to the east.

The exposed cave has five chambers, with the fifth one discovered on Aug. 1, 2018. The height of the cave varies reaching a height of approximately 22 feet near the entrance down to only three feet high in the fourth chamber and lower level of the fifth chamber, county officials said.

Related stories:

Cave Network Underneath Cambria Drive Bigger Than First Believed

Work Sealing Cambria Drive Cave Stops After New Chamber Found

Williamson County To Seal Underground Cambria Drive Cave

Williamson County Shares Pics Of Underground Cave That Ate Street

Engineers To Assess 20-Foot Williamson County Sinkhole

4th Chamber Found At Williamson County Cave

Williamson County Officials Block Cave From Trespassers

Williamson County Officials Begin Stabilizing Underground Cave

Williamson County Map Shows Homes Directly Above Underground Cave

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>>> Photo of cave under Cambria Drive courtesy of Williamson County