Grassy Cove Cave, Travis County, Texas

September 2015

Gate Type: SEMI-CUPOLA

Grassy Cove had a long and sordid history. First discovered and excavated by legendary caver Bill Russell, the cave was subsequently buried with construction rubble by a developer. Decades later it started to reopen, revealing its location at long last. The City of Austin hired a crew of cavers to re-excavate the entrance, removing many tons of fill. But the cave had to be protected since it was in a city park. We built a very large semi-cupola to control access and to hold back all the rubble that was back-filled around it. It’s definitely not a bat cave, but the rubble around the gate serves as important habitat for salamanders, reptiles, and many species of invertebrates. Unfortunately, we were so busy building the gate that we forgot to take photos during construction! All photos © Jim Kennedy.

Believe it or not, the front side of the semi-cupola is almost seven feet high!
Here’s the gate again after the excavation was backfilled around it. That excavation was entirely hand dug, and the rocks replaced by hand!