Barton Springs Public Process

Sent to Victoria Li, Director of Watershed Protection by Dan Crow:July 14, 2010

Victoria,

This morning at the twice a month maintenance meeting at Barton Springs Pool,  Wayne Simmons said that the flow of water from the pool through the bottom of the tunnel is causing more erosion and the holes covered by the plastic sheet on the bottom of the pool are getting bigger and had to be plugged with rocks .

The letter to Marc Ott explained that it might be the fall of 2011 before the bypass tunnel repairs can even begin. That is long time to keep all the temporary measures in place that are there only because water is getting into the tunnel from underneath. Plugging the holes would allow the ugly safety tape that is blocking access to the lawn to be removed and the lawn could again accommodate people who prefer shade on the north side. It would allow the pool ladder on the north side to be replaced and swimmers would no longer be roped off from the safety rail on the lower half of north bank. These things are merely a few by products of repairing the holes.

1. The project will almost certainly be delayed until fall of 2011 if for any reason the rock anchor solution should not prove to be feasible or appropriate.
2.Currently the holes in the floor are the only manifest, functional problem with the tunnel and they need to be fixed to stop erosion under the tunnel.
3.Plugging the holes is inexpensive and the first step for all future repairs including the joints and repaving the floor .
4 Plugging the holes will safely extend the life of the tunnel which is currently bypassing storm water 25% more efficiently than it will after the proposed $3.2 million dollars in repairs restricts the tunnel capacity.
5.Every year of service the city squeezes out of the bypass tunnel without major expenditures is a financial boon to the city that will save $150,000 a year just on interest costs.
6.Adding a gate at the downstream end of the tunnel would guard against the sudden loss of pool water even if larger holes should develop.

Plugging the holes in the tunnel floor will give you a way to control the water in the bypass tunnel that you do not now have, and this will open more options for testing and design and is the first step of any repair. Plugging the holes and adding the gate will take off the  pressure to make hurried repairs, and it will allow time to get the job done right and in a financially responsible way.

Dan