Concrete Steps in Hudson Bend, Texas

Steps toward the water: setbacks, docks and the flood pool

The county code treats Lake Travis as a "western watershed". Where a lot sits outside Austin's ETJ, the shoreline setback starts at the 681.0-foot contour and runs 100 feet inland, or 75 feet for a detached single-family home, and it has to stay free of construction apart from approved utility and roadway crossings. The County may approve the access a boat dock or pier needs, as long as its route and design hold down erosion, the clearing of vegetation and added impervious cover. This county setback doesn't apply to lots still inside Austin's ETJ, and the rule that does hasn't been confirmed, so check with the City and the County.

Lake levels

LCRA treats Lake Travis as full for water supply at 681 feet above mean sea level, when it holds about 1.1 million acre-feet. Above that is a flood pool built to hold back another 776,062 acre-feet; water flows over Mansfield Dam's spillway above 714 feet, and the top of the dam is at 754.

Below the waterline

Since January 1, 2022, LCRA's Highland Lakes Dredge and Fill Ordinance has covered placing any material, structure, wall, riprap or revetment below a lake's regulated pool elevation. Small Tier I projects need only a written notice to LCRA, and larger ones need a permit. Residential docks of 1,500 square feet or less need no LCRA permit, but they must meet its safety standards for flotation, lighting, access, anchoring and distance from shore.

Mix, steel and curing for exterior steps

Outdoor steps take sun, rain and wear from every side, so the mix, the steel and the cure count as much as the forms. NRMCA says reinforcement can't stop concrete from cracking but, placed correctly, can keep cracks narrower, and it wants the steel buried under 2 inches or more of concrete. It recommends a moderate slump of no more than 5 inches and keeping new concrete moist for at least 3 days.

Where a curing compound is used, NRMCA wants one that meets ASTM C309 or C1315, ideally sprayed in two coats at right angles for even coverage; plastic sheeting used for curing should be at least 4 mils thick. We'll go over the mix, the reinforcement and the curing plan for your steps at the estimate.

From river fords to a lake community

Wiley Hudson, who came from Arkansas, secured a land grant near the river bend in 1854. By 1860 four families lived in the area, and farmers crossed the Colorado at Marshall Ford, Watkins Ford and Sylvester Ford to grind corn at Anderson Mill. The community covered about 4,000 acres and farmed and ranched into the mid-1900s, until Marshall Ford Dam, now Mansfield Dam, and Lake Travis took nearly half of its acreage in the early 1940s, and a cemetery was moved to Teck. LCRA and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation built the dam from 1937 to 1942. Farms gave way to houses, marinas and lodges grew along the lake, a volunteer fire department and a garden club were organized in the 1950s, and Hudson Bend received a Texas Historical Marker in 1978.

The 2020 Census counted 4,005 residents and 2,170 housing units, 324 of them vacant. Survey estimates (2020–2024; the margins are wide for a community this small) show a mixed housing stock: about 55% single-family detached houses, about 24% of units in buildings of five or more, 142 mobile homes and 45 boats, RVs or vans. About half the homes were built in 1997 or later, and owners occupy about 71% of the homes that are lived in.

Concrete work beyond the steps

Steps meet landings, walks and patios, so we pour those too, along with driveways and retaining walls; Travis County wants a site plan sealed by a Texas licensed engineer for a retaining wall over 5 feet tall. Nearby, Heritage Concrete Austin takes on Steiner Ranch retaining walls, and on the lake's north shore it pours concrete steps and stairs in Volente.