Experts to begin soil study at Fort Bliss National Cemetery

The monsoon season is over which means El Paso gets a break from the rain, and at Fort Bliss National Cemetery, headstones will stay above the ground.

For the past few years, heavy rainfall caused the soil to crumble sending headstones under piles of dirt.

Monday morning geological sciences professors from the University of Texas at El Paso and a team of students will begin a study on the soil at the cemetery by taking samples in hopes of finding why ground is opening up.

Behind the efforts is State Representative Joe Moody (Dist. 78). Officials from his office will present during the start of the study.

“These are our national heroes – family and friends.” said Moody. “No one should come out here to visit their loved one and see a sunken grave. If there’s something we can do to prevent that, I think we should exhaust all of those options.”

According to his office, more that 1,300 headstones have been damaged in the past several years. Some have sunk as far as two feet into the ground.

Dr. Lixin Jin and Dr. Diane Doser, both geological sciences professors said the study will aim to determine the physical properties of soils underlying the cemetery and if gravesite collapses are concentrated in specific areas where soil types and styles of burial might differ.

The team will also investigate the specific methods used to repair past collapses to determine if those methods prevent sinking and the approximate rainfall that leads to collapse.

A date to complete the study has not been announced.