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After months of evaluating a cave in Williamson County, construction crews have started work to seal it off.
The cave on Cambria Drive was discovered in February after part of it collapsed, breaking a water pipe.
“Other people say it sounded like thunder, but really it’s more like a crash,” said Tim Kelley who lives next to the cave.
The 200-foot cave was resting underneath the road and it had been there for millions of years.
“This cave stretches through about four chambers that go underneath about two homes and just a little bit of additional property,” said Connie Odom, public affairs manager for Williamson County.
Since the discovery, county officials asked engineers and environmental consultants to come up with a plan that would preserve the water quality and protect homeowners. This week that plan was put into action.
“We gave our contractor the notice to proceed and so now they’re beginning work to fill in the cave under the roadway and then repair the roadway,” Odom said.
Construction crews are working to remove debris from inside of the cave before they fill the portion under the roadway and they’ve already made a few discoveries along the way, including a boulder that had to be broken into pieces to be removed, and what is believed to be an additional cavern closer to Ephraim Road.
“It could be that there’s some slight change in plans if the two are connected, we’re not positive that that’s going to occur, but we’re going to look at that,” said Odom.
Kelley said there have been visitors from near and far stopping by to check it out.
“Just about everybody who visits says they think it’d be a crime to fill in the cave because it’s too beautiful and they should just cover it up and not fill it in,” said Kelley who’s somewhat sad to see crews fill in the cave, but also ready for the road to reopen.
“It has been pretty inconvenient to have it, especially if I want to haul things in my pickup truck to my driveway, which I can’t do anymore,” Kelley said.
The County expects work on the cave to be completed by early November, but that could change as environmentalists continue to explore the area.