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Timeline of retaining wall collapse in Centex Homes neighborhood built in San Antonio

There’s still more news in the story of the retaining wall collapse at the Hills of Rivermist — builder Centex Homes declined to meet with residents today. If you want to know more about the background of this story, check out this timeline of the major events related to the retaining wall collapse.

Centex Homes submits plans for new retaining wall at Rivermist

Nearly two months after a retaining wall split open at the Hills of Rivermist in San Antonio, Centex Homes submitted plans to the city for a new wall that is reinforced with concrete piers and will cost at least $4 million: Centex Homes is hoping the third time’s the charm. This week it produced a … Read more

Centex Homes wrong about wall threat

The day after a large retaining wall collapsed at The Hills of Rivermist in San Antonio, Centex Homes held a private meeting with residents. Outsiders, including city officials, weren’t invited. We received a video of the entire meeting, which shows Centex claimed that the neighborhood was safe because city firefighters were leaving. That was news … Read more

San Antonio builders must check all retaining walls built in past three years

An interesting status report was posted online tonight by San Antonio officials who are examining the retaining wall collapse at the Hills of Rivermist. Officials met with local builders, who were told they must review all retaining walls built over the past three years that are more than four feet tall. The builders must make … Read more

Was cracked retaining wall built correctly?

New documents offer more information about the retaining wall that collapsed at the Hills of Rivermist, a neighborhood in San Antonio built by Centex Homes. Comparing the wall’s engineering plans to a memo describing how the wall was actually built shows the retaining wall might have lacked crucial features: The original engineering plans for the … Read more

Retaining wall not built to engineering specifications

Jen and I wrote a follow-up story today about the sinking neighborhood in San Antonio called the Hills of Rivermist: The retaining wall that collapsed last week and jeopardized a neighborhood built by Centex Homes was built with less mortar than what engineering plans called for, according to city officials who inspected the wall Friday. … Read more

Maps, plats, and photos of the sinking neighborhood in San Antonio

I’m helping out with the coverage of the “slope failure” at the Hills of Rivermist, the neighborhood in San Antonio where shifting soil and a buckled retaining wall jeopardized homes. Here are some useful resources to learn more about what happened: In Google Earth you can view a series of aerial photos to see how … Read more