(The following story by Jerry Needham appeared on the San Antonio Express-News website on November 4.)
SAN ANTONIO — Thirteen years after they were sunk into the Medina River to aid in the construction of the Applewhite Reservoir Dam, contractors for the San Antonio Water System finally removed two old railroad tank cars from the river bed last week, officials said today.
It’s one of the last projects before the utility turns most of the land it purchased for the now-abandoned reservoir project over to the city in return for easements to Edwards Aquifer recharge zone land on the city’s Northwest Side.
The city, in turn, is giving part of the land to Toyota for its new $750 million truck plant, and part of it to the new Land Heritage Institute of the Americas that is being set up by Texas A&M University.
“One of the most difficult challenges in preparing the land was removal of two 80-foot lengths of rail cars,” Chris Powers, SAWS director of logistics, told trustees today.
The inch-thick steel cylinders from railroad tank cars “were welded together and sunk on the north side of the river bank by local contractor Zachry Inc. when they were doing construction to provide a land bridge, the base for a pontoon to get construction equipment across,” Powers said.
Bids several years ago to remove the tank car cylinders were about $100,000, but Zachry agreed to remove them for $14,700 plus salvage, he said.
“The amazing part is that they were taken out with no destruction of the river bank,” he said. “They were able to pull the tanks out in the space of an afternoon using an excavator.”
In other action, the board awarded a $1.4 million contract to Alsay Inc. for construction of a second well at the Culebra Pump Station in northwest San Antonio. The 30-inch-diameter well with the ability to produce 7,000 gallons of Edwards Aquifer water a minute will increase the supply for the rapidly growing area, officials said.
Trustees also approved $1.7 million for the replacement of water and sewer lines along Houston Street from Pine to Walters streets. Some of the water pipe along that stretch of Houston Street was laid in 1895 and the sewer pipe was laid in 1913, the board was told.