South Peak wall collapse caused by storm water pipe

ROANOKE COUNTY, VA -

(story has been updated with information from Roanoke County and the project engineer)

We are continuing to follow the South Peak Development wall collapse that happened Saturday, shutting down traffic along US 220. No one was hurt.

The project engineer Mike Circeo with Circeo Geotech says the wall collapsed because of a storm water pipe that was leaking. The water forced the wall out but he says it's more of a cosmetic issue than a structural one.

"The wall itself I think is designed to withstand a certain amount of water that seeps in behind it but when you have a concentrated flow like this there really isn't any way to plan for that. You just need to make sure that work is being done properly so they don't continue to lose water outside the pipe," said Circeo who has been with the project since the beginning.

Engineers, developers and inspectors from Roanoke County and the project have been at the site since Saturday afternoon when this all happened.

Right now Roanoke County tells us they are waiting for a written report from the engineer but says drivers shouldn't worry.

"Certainly it looks like a safety issue but this right now is an active site, meaning construction will continue to take place. that issue it's just the cost of doing business it can be repaired," said Tarek Moneir, the Roanoke County Deputy Director of Development Services who oversees engineering for the county.

Cireco says there could be other pipes affected. There are eight retaining walls and storm pipes between most of the walls. Each pipe will have to be inspected. Cireco says the only way to do that is by a camera. The pipes are all buried six to twenty feet in the ground. If other pipes need to be repaired they can put in a pipe liner instead of digging up the wall.

"The site's been inspected both by the public and private sector. The walls have been engineered. It's an unfortunate event, things like this happen but the only thing that you can do is fix it and move on," said Hunter Smith, the president of Smith/Packett, the South Peak developer.

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South Peak wall collapse caused by storm water pipe