The police officer involved in a foot chase of a Niagara Falls teenager who jumped over a retaining wall and fell to his death into the Niagara Gorge will not be charged.

A news release from the Special Investigations unit states that director Ian Scott has concluded there are no reasonalbe grounds to charge suject officer Const. Jacob Smits with any criminal offence in relation to the death of 18-year-old Ryan Dube.

The SIU, an arms-length body that probes reports involving police in cases where there has been a death or serious injury, assigned seven investigators and two forensic investigators to probe the circumstances surroundign the incident. In all, four witness officers and 17 civillian witnesses were interviewed.

The release also notes Const. Smits did not participate in an SIU interview, nor did he provide investigators with a copy of his duty notes, as is his legal right.

The investigation looked into the events of the evening of July 24, and the news release provides a detailed accounting of what the investigators determined happened.

The investigators found that shortly after 5 p.m., Const. Smits was dispatched to check an address for Mr. Dube who was wanted on an outstanding warrant for breach of probation. This was in contrast to reports This Week received that the officer was responding to a disturbance call at Nightlight group home, where Dube was staying. Representatives from Boys and Girls Club of Niagara, which operates the group home, maintained there was no disturbance.

Const. Smits found Dube walking with a friend in the area of Ontario Avenue and Otter Street and told Dube about the warrant. Const. Smits went back to his cruiser to grab a pen and paper and to radio in that he had Dube in custody and that no other assistance was needed.

According to the investigation, Dube took this opportunity to run away, with Const. Smits in pursuit, first in his cruiser and then on foot. Dube ran across River Road, down an incline to a retaining wall separating the road from the Niagara Gorge.

The wall is between three to four feet high and made of stone. On the other side, the ground juts out about five feet on a decline, and then there is a big drop-off into the gorge.

When Dube reached the wall, he put his hands on top and propelled himself over. Const. Smits ran to the wall, hesitated for a brief moment and then also propelled himself over.

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No officer charges in gorge death

The deteriorating retaining walls along the River Raisin at Comstock Park will cost far more to replace than originally estimated, Adrian city commissioners were told Monday, but there is also more money than expected in the citys treasury.

Commissioners received a report showing revenue exceeded spending by $361,789 in the year-end unaudited financial report for the 2011-12 fiscal year.

Total revenue of $9,928,214 was hurt by a shortfall of $173,153 in property tax collections. However that was largely offset by unexpected revenue from oil leases ($160,000) and savings such as increased employee health care contributions ($177,000) and other factors.

Im very proud of the staff, city administrator Dane Nelson said. Overall, we managed very well.

After reviewing several options on the retaining wall project, the commission voted Monday to accept the low bid of $644,585 from LJ Construction Co. of Clifford to build a new retaining wall. The 7-0 vote came after bids exceeded the original estimate in March, which pegged replacing the wooden walls at $312,000 or a total of $340,000 to replace them with concrete.

Nelson told commissioners that actual bids came in about 40 percent more costly for all three options wood, concrete or block, and steel that the engineering firm considered.

The only other option I see is to get a different engineer, Nelson said. Of course that would put the project off another year. We have a dangerous situation in which the wall is falling. Wed have to shore that up.

The proposal by engineer ROWE Professional Services Co. of Flint includes building a cofferdam to divert water during construction, along with excavation, installation of steel panels, rebuilding the wall with block and terracing the hillside. The steel panels would then be cut near the water line and left in place to help prevent erosion under the base of the wall.

The proposed wall is expected to last for 70 years, Nelson said. Reinforced wooden walls such as the current one have about a 30-year lifespan.

Commissioner Jerry Gallatin asked if city staff agreed that a 70-year solution was the better option.

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Comstock Park retaining wall project costs grow

BATON ROUGE, LA (WAFB) -

A portion of interstate was shut down for several hours after an 18-wheeler hit the retaining wall late Sunday night.

The accident happened on the I-10 East ramp to I-110 North just before 11 p.m.

The Baton Rouge Police Department said the tractor trailer slammed into the barrier on the onramp and the cab partially went over the side.

The big rig spilled its load in the process.

The driver was not injured.

It is unknown what it was hauling, but the material was not hazardous.

Investigators reported the truck driver refused to cooperate but added it appears the driver lost control and hit the wall several times before the semi stopped on it.

The driver was taken in for questioning. The driver's name has not been released.

BRPD has not said if charges will be filed. Officers will likely release the name if charges are filed.

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Cab of 18-wheeler dangles over side of I-10 after hitting wall

9 August, 2012

SCIRT Media Statement: Retaining Walls Rebuild Continues In Lyttelton

Good news for residents in Lytteltons Cunningham Terrace and Sumner Road: all easement agreements required for retaining wall ground anchors have now been received by SCIRT. Work will begin on Cunningham Terrace the week beginning 27 August. It is expected to take about eight months.

We are delighted to have this work back on track again, said Duncan Gibb, SCIRT General Manager. Its been a long wait for people at a time when everyone wants certainty.

Meanwhile, on the east side of the port town, retaining wall work that was stopped on Sumner Road resumes on 20 August. A works notice has gone into letterboxes this week.

Preparatory work on both projects was curtailed while easement agreements from all affected land owners were finalised.

The easements for the Christchurch City Council cover the positioning of ground anchors under private properties. Ground anchors are horizontally-drilled steel pins encased in concrete. They provide greatly increased strength to the retaining wall and the road, particularly in the event of any future earthquakes, as well as increased security for residents and road users.

Where ground anchors have been used in the past on Lytteltons Dublin Street and Sutton Quay retaining walls, they have stood up extremely well through the earthquakes. Other streets in Lyttelton are also getting rebuilt retaining walls with preparatory work starting in several places.

Retaining walls city-wide SCIRT will be rebuilding hundreds of publicly-owned retaining walls in the Port Hills. Many more are on private property and will be rebuilt by land owners, as part of earthquake repairs.

SCIRT has prioritised the repair of retaining walls that have impacts on roads, underground services, such as wastewater and water supply, or have a risk of failure that could cause public safety or access issues. Retaining walls above three metres in height may require ground anchors to hold them in place.

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SCIRT: Retaining Walls Rebuild Continues In Lyttelton

Good news for residents in Lyttelton's Cunningham Terrace and Sumner Road: all easement agreements required for retaining wall ground anchors have now been received by SCIRT. Work will begin on Cunningham Terrace the week beginning 27 August. It is expected to take about eight months.

"We are delighted to have this work back on track again," said Duncan Gibb, SCIRT General Manager. "It's been a long wait for people at a time when everyone wants certainty."

Meanwhile, on the east side of the port town, retaining wall work that was stopped on Sumner Road resumes on 20 August. A works notice has gone into letterboxes this week.

Preparatory work on both projects was curtailed while easement agreements from all affected land owners were finalised.

The easements for the Christchurch City Council cover the positioning of ground anchors under private properties. Ground anchors are horizontally-drilled steel pins encased in concrete. They provide greatly increased strength to the retaining wall and the road, particularly in the event of any future earthquakes, as well as increased security for residents and road users.

Where ground anchors have been used in the past on Lyttelton's Dublin Street and Sutton Quay retaining walls, they have stood up extremely well through the earthquakes. Other streets in Lyttelton are also getting rebuilt retaining walls with preparatory work starting in several places.

Retaining walls city-wide

SCIRT will be rebuilding hundreds of publicly-owned retaining walls in the Port Hills. Many more are on private property and will be rebuilt by land owners, as part of earthquake repairs.

SCIRT has prioritised the repair of retaining walls that have impacts on roads, underground services, such as wastewater and water supply, or have a risk of failure that could cause public safety or access issues. Retaining walls above three metres in height may require ground anchors to hold them in place.

"Rebuilding these publicly-owned retaining walls is extremely important for the people who live and work throughout the Port Hills," said Duncan Gibb. "These walls benefit people living next to them and also road users, pedestrians, local businesses and anyone who is serviced by the underground pipes located inside the road.

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Retaining walls rebuild continues in Lyttelton

MAPLETON Construction of a long-needed replacement for a key retaining wall on Sweet Creek Road begins this week, marking the start of a 16-month-long project that will include several night road closures.

The 370-yard-long retaining wall is showing signs of weakening, and the adjacent roadbed has been damaged over the years by floods and mudslides. A portion of the road has been reduced to a single lane controlled with traffic signals for more than a year.

The $6.1 million project will replace the retaining wall and restore the road to two-way traffic. Because Sweet Creek Road provides access to important federal timberland, the Federal Highway Administration is covering 95 percent of the cost. The rest, about $250,000, is coming from Lane Countys road fund.

During construction, the road will be closed entirely several times. But those closures will be limited to nights between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. and will be announced in advance on roadside signs and on a special, toll-free information line.

The number for the Sweet Creek project information line is 855-263-9169. The first night closure of the road is scheduled for Aug. 12-15.

When the road is open, travel will be controlled by the existing traffic signals or by construction flaggers. At other times the road will be closed with hourly, five-minute openings to let cars through. Those will happen at five minutes before the hour.

Sweet Creek Road roughly parallels Highway 126 on the south side of the Siuslaw River for several miles before turning into the Coast Range forests. It runs several miles south and west of Mapleton, providing access to 68 homes and about 30,000 acres of national forestland, as well as private timberland.

The retaining wall is about 2 miles southwest of Mapleton. Made of steel pilings and concrete, the wall keeps mud and earth from sliding down onto the road, but it is deteriorating to the point that it must be replaced, county officials said.

About 5 million board feet of timber are harvested each year from the forestland served by the road, the county said.

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Work begins this week on Sweet Creek Road

The wall at the Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport (credit: CBS)

BROOMFIELD, Colo. (CBS4) A massive airport retaining wall built just a few years ago is already failing and its costing the public a bundle of money. The airport manager says it could not have been predicted.

The retaining wall is on the north end of the Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport in Broomfield.

Theres generally concern that, Is the wall crumbling? Is it falling down? Airport Manager Ken Maenpa said.

The 70-foot-high wall, which supports a new taxiway, has a massive crack in it. Its big enough to fit an arm in. Dirt is pouring out and the instability shows in jagged cracks throughout.

Since we discovered, and got confirmation that the wall was indeed moving, its impacted a lot of people, including myself, because weve all been working together on solutions to stop it from moving, Maenpa said.

At one point airport administrators say the wall was moving as much as three inches every week. They had to temporarily stop using a road on top of the wall. Theyve poured 12,000 cubic yards of dirt at the base of the wall to help stabilize things. The project is now encroaching on state Highway 128.

So far the airport has had to spend about $250,000 in public money to buttress the problem wall, but a permanent fix will cost a whole lot more.

Authorities say they suddenly discovered this year water was flowing under the wall hundred gallons a day eating away at the foundation.

A term that I would use is unforeseen condition. When you go through and youre using good engineering practices when youre designing something and doing everything that you should do and something like water appears out of nowhere thats whose fault, if you want to start talking about fault, thats the best that we could probably come up with right now, Maenpa said.

Excerpt from:
Airport Retaining Wall Failing, Public Foots The Bill

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

AFTER a slight delay brought about by the collapse of a retaining wall on the project site, construction of the Horizons 101 residential condominium is set to resume as real estate developer Taft Property Ventures Development Corp. and contractor DDT Konstract Inc. signed the contract to build what is expected to be Cebus tallest twin towers.

The synergy of Taft Property and DDT Konstract will further characterize Cebus skyline to become what a truly world-class city should be. Horizons 101 is just the beginning in building new horizons, said Taft Property chief operating officer Manuel Colayco.

Win US$500. Join Sun.Star Cebu Yearbook Video Contest.

Cave-in

Construction of the project was halted last April after part of a retaining wall in an excavation caved in, affecting about 10 homes. Repairs were made on the retaining wall and to some homes affected by the cave in.

Following the lifting of the cease and desist order two weeks ago, officials of the project assured that the slight delay did not affect the expected date of completion and that the first tower will be done by 2015.

The company chose DDT Konstract to build the towers. The firm built several other buildings such as the Lexmark tower at the Cebu Business Park, eBloc building at the Cebu IT Park and the SM City Consolacion. The contactor was also behind the construction of the temple of the Church of the Latter Day Saints in Lahug and is erecting towers for Globe Telecom at the Bonifacio Global City in Taguig and Banco de Oro at Ortigas Center in Mandaluyong.

DDT chairman and president Danilo Tamayo said they will use the latest in technology in constructing the building, including pre-cast technology, wherein concrete is cast into a reusable mold and then brought to a construction site and put into place.

Free from leaks

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Work on Horizons 101 set to resume soon: firm

Manhattan boy's recipe gets him invited to White House dinner Manhattan boy's recipe gets him invited to White House dinner

Updated: Tuesday, July 31 2012 8:01 PM EDT2012-08-01 00:01:27 GMT

Sam Wohabe, of the Upper East Side, is a budding star in the culinary word -- and he's just 9 years old. In August, Sam will be dining with Michelle Obama at the White House.

Sam Wohabe, of the Upper East Side, is a budding star in the culinary word -- and he's just 9 years old. In August, Sam will be dining with Michelle Obama at the White House.

Updated: Tuesday, July 31 2012 7:32 PM EDT2012-07-31 23:32:33 GMT

A vehicle struck the retaining wall on the elevated Park Avenue Viaduct, causing debris to fall onto the street below on Tuesday evening, the FDNY said.

A vehicle struck the retaining wall on the elevated Park Avenue Viaduct, causing debris to fall onto the street below on Tuesday evening, the FDNY said.

Updated: Tuesday, July 31 2012 1:26 PM EDT2012-07-31 17:26:56 GMT

An octagon-shaped penthouse in midtown Manhattan is on the market for $100 million. The 8,000-square-foot apartment is at CitySpire on West 56th Street.

An octagon-shaped penthouse in midtown Manhattan is on the market for $100 million. The 8,000-square-foot apartment is at CitySpire on West 56th Street.

Continued here:
Park Ave. Viaduct accident causes debris to fall onto 42nd St.

Woman arrested for DUI after car hits home, runs over Lynn Garden retaining wall Published July 31st, 2012 3:45 am

Kingsport police have arrested a motorist who allegedly struck a home off of Lynn Garden Drive, then fled the scene and drove over a nearby retaining wall.

The incident began at approximately 3:30 p.m. Monday. Kingsport Police Department Officer Gerald Ray said a Chevrolet Beretta was attempting to turn around on McConnell Lane, a dead-end street. The car reportedly struck a home, damaging a screen door and heat pump unit, before driving away.

The driver then piloted the car over the edge of a wooden retaining wall located behind an apartment complex beside the Highway Boutique.

Unable to drive any farther, and requiring a tow truck to remove the car, the woman was arrested at the scene.

Keila Gilbert, 36, is charged with driving under the influence and driving on a revoked license.

Immediately after the wreck, police were attempting to locate a second individual who was allegedly in the car but exited and ran away following the hit and run with the home on McConnell Lane. An investigation is continuing, with additional charges pending.

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Woman arrested for DUI after car hits home, runs over Lynn Garden retaining wall