This March 22, 2016, photo shows one of the cracks that appeared in the foundation wall for the new Parish Hall. Photo: J. Galler.
Although not everyone necessarily agrees, the contractor and his architectural engineer are convinced that the foundation wall for the new Parish Hall failed due to the timing of the March 8-9 heavy rain and their March 16-17 backfilling of the wall. (An official determination of cause by an independent third-party investigator was ruled out due to its likely cost and potential delay of the project.)
The contractor and his architectural engineer have a plan to fix the wall, which plan includes a thicker footing in the replaced section and additional reinforcement to attempt to keep the wall from sliding in the future. They are absorbing the approximate $10,000 cost of the demolition of the affected section of the wall and its replacement. (Although Kilgore and Gregg County were declared disaster areas, Federal Emergency Management Agency grant money was not available to pay for repairing any damages other than damage to residences.)
