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Logjam Piling Up Again on San Antonio River
Local
Written by Natassia Finley   
There could be another serious logjam in the making on the San Antonio River near the Victoria-Refugio county line.  
There could be another serious logjam in the making on the San Antonio River near the Victoria-Refugio county line.

As of now it's just beginning to build up, but the San Antonio River Authority, also known as S.A.R.A, fears if it's not handled in a timely fashion a repeat of two and a half weeks ago could occur.

On October 7, 2009 after heavy rainfall poured down over much of South Texas, the river became so backed up with debris that the water could barely be seen.

This was the first time a logjam on the Victoria-Refugio county line was brought to both Union Pacific and S.A.R.A's attention.

It's believed that when Union Pacific Railroad updated bridge pilings, they built them too wide and this is the reason for the problem, not enough space for debris to pass through.

As of Monday, a spokesman from the San Antonio River Authority says they're well aware that logjams will continue to be a problem until a feasible solution is decided upon.

 

In the meantime, they're working with the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority, also known as G.B.R.A. G.B.R.A officials are expected to assess the logjam first thing Tuesday and report back to the San Antonio River Authority so they can decide what to do next.

However, it's likely that the Union Pacific Railroad will once again be in charge of the clean-up as they were the last time this happened.

 

When S.A.R.A became aware of the rebuild of the bridge pilings they entered a deed agreement with Union Pacific making the railroad company responsible for the clean-up of any debris should a jam like this ever occur, and now in a two week period, two logjams.

But Union Pacific says they may have a solution to alleviating at least some of the problem.

"At this point Union Pacific has plans to install drift deflectors to prevent debris from occuring at the bridge. We have engineers working on this as we speak. As soon as the weather clears up and we're able to install these safely, we'll do so." Union Pacific Spokesperson, Raquel Espinoza said.