O-9 Well Cave, Crockett County, Texas

July 2019

Gate Type: FLAT

With an unusual entrance that drops into a 1500m cave, O-9 has been exploited by generations of ranchers needing to access its waters in parched west Texas. The primary concerns here are safety and maintaining access. All photos © Jim Kennedy.

The O-9 Windmill in typical West Texas terrain. The windmill pipe drops straight down a 29m natural shaft to the cave.
Looking down into the cave.
The old gate’s hinges were badly rusted, and it had become detached from the concrete collar around the cave mouth.
Volunteer cavers helped concrete in additional rocks around the pad to improve pit safety.
We drilled into the concrete collar to place solid anchor pins, and attached new sills.
Work on both tasks progressed under the hot Texas sun.
The new gate is a vast improvement over the old one. Cavers and cows both will agree!