SCSC 310 Killeen, TX Will Porter

Introduction

Figure 1. Bell County, Texas

Killeen, Texas is in Bell county which is about halfway between Waco and Austin. Adjacent to

Killeen is Fort Hood which happens to be the largest military installation in the United States. The city

depends on the large military presence economically. The city has a total area of 54.2 square miles.

Much of Killeen is urbanized due to the rapidly growing population. Killeen is in the Texas 85 MLRA,

Grand Prairie. This MLRA is dominated by vertisols and mollisols. The dominant land use throughout the

Grand Prairie is livestock grazing on rangeland.

SCSC 310 Killeen, TX Will Porter

Environment

Killeen

Figure 2. General Soil Map of Bell County

From the map above, the main soils found in Killeen are the Purves and Denton series. The

Denton series is formed from limestone residuum while the Purves series is formed from interbedded

limestone and marl. The Purves and Denton series are both silty clay soils. The clayey soils are very

limiting on the residences, agriculture, and roadways of Killeen. The Purves and Denton series both also

have very shallow bedrock which is very limiting for construction. Both also have very high shrink swell

potentials. The Denton series has some slickensides and wedge-shaped pressure faces present. Both
SCSC 310 Killeen, TX Will Porter

series have calcareous concretions present. The Denton series is effervescent throughout. Both series

are alkaline. The Purves series very rapidly hits bedrock, which is problematic for many uses.

Corn, cotton, oats, sorghum, winter wheat, and cattle are all raised in Bell county with corn

being the main crop. Most of the crops are grown on the Denton series while the Purves series is used

more for pasture. The Denton series is slightly less weathered which provides more nutrients with less

management for the crops. The Denton series is more productive than the Purves series according to

multiple different indices.

Figure 3. Rangeland in Killeen

SCSC 310 Killeen, TX Will Porter

Unsuitable-

Moderately
limited-

Figure 4. Suitability for Dwellings with Basements

The clayey soils make basements in the city very rare. The Denton series is known to have a high

clay content even at the surface which causes many issues when trying to dig soil out for a basement.

The soil also has a very high shrink swell potential with many cracks found at the surface. All unsuitable

soils in the AOI have very shallow lithic contact while the moderately limited soils have paralithic contact

or a moderately high shrink swell potential.

SCSC 310 Killeen, TX Will Porter

Unsuitable-

Figure 5. Road Suitability

Due to the clayey soils and cracks present at the surface of the Denton series, paved

streets require a large amount of maintenance in the city. Killeen is currently approaching a

possible $40 million street repair bill as many roads in the city are littered with potholes and

require a large amount of maintenance.

SCSC 310 Killeen, TX Will Porter

Figures 6 and 7. Main Street in Killeen (left) and road work in Killeen (right)

Conclusion

The rapidly urbanizing city must repair what it has before it adds to its old infrastructure. The

clayey soils in the city have created a large repair bill that must be dealt with before the city tries to

expand more. With the soils present, a proactive maintenance plan will be much more efficient than a

reactive plan.