Breathless Cave, Bexar County, Texas

December 2024

Gate Type: Flat

Breathless Cave is a small cave with a large importance: It is the home of Cicurina madla (Madla Cave Meshweaver), a Federally listed cave invertebrate. Due to its location near a planned hiking trail, and with the obvious hazard of having a pit entrance, the Parks and Recreation Department of the City of San Antonio decided to install a cave gate to protect both the cave and the people. We enjoyed working with the P&R crew to install this Flat Gate, raised to allow for nutrient flow into the cave ecosystem. All photos © Jim Kennedy.

The cave entrance in its natural state.
We’ve anchored the sills to the bedrock, and now Eric is welding the short corner columns.
Eric is welding the top bars in place. Spacing is 5 inches.
The finished gate. There is a removable bar for authorized entry. Easy-peasy lemon squeezy.