Posted on: 7:37 am, June 15, 2012, by Michelle Pekarsky, updated on: 12:18pm, June 15, 2012

KANSAS CITY, Mo. A man apparently jumped- or fell- from a retaining wall into traffic on the Broadway extension just north of the Broadway Bridge Friday morning and died after he was struck by a truck.

Police say a pickup truck crested the hill and the driver saw the man either falling or jumping down into the highway from the wall, but couldnt avoid hitting him. Police say its clear he either fell or jumped, although they have not determined which is the case and ultimately, may never know. The man was transported to the hospital, where he died.

I cant think of anything that would be more unsettling like that happening, said Sgt. Bill Mahoney, KCMO Police. Weve talked to him. Hes very cooperative with us. He did stop to try and render first-aid to this individual.

Police have not yet released the victims name and are talking to members of his family. Police tell FOX 4 that the man was in his 20s, his last known residence was in Kansas City, Kan.

The accident happened at about 7:05 a.m. Police shut down the northbound lanes there for about three hours.

FOX 4 will continue to update this page. Refresh for the latest.

Excerpt from:
Man Killed When He Falls or Jumps Into Rush Hour Traffic

KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV) -

Kansas City police are investigating an accident that left one person dead.

It happened just after 7 a.m. Friday when a pedestrian was struck by the driver of a red pickup truck in the northbound lanes of U.S. Highway 169, north of the Broadway Bridge. The accident happened just before Richards Road.

Police said a man was on a retaining wall on the east side of the highway and either jumped or fell into traffic. On the other side of the retaining wall were railroad tracks.

Paramedics were performing CPR when they left the accident scene, however, the victim was taken to an area hospital where he died a short time later.

Police questioned the man driving the red pickup truck, but it doesn't appear he will be charged.

All lanes of northbound U.S. Highway 169 were reopened shortly after 8:30 a.m. Traffic to Broadway Bridge had been diverted to Richards Road as crews worked on the scene.

Copyright 2012 KCTV (Meredith Corp.) All rights reserved.

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Man dies after jumping or falling from retaining wall into traffic

Residents of B.C.'s Interior are anxiously watching river and creek levels this weekend, as more rain is forecast with stream levels already high throughout much of the Okanagan.

Environment Canada is forecasting 20 to 50 millimetres of rain for B.C.'s Interior over Saturday and Sunday, and a continued contribution to river volumes from melting snow packs.

On Friday, the B.C. River Forecast Centre upgraded an advisory for the Shuswap River near Enderby to a "flood watch" level.

Gord Molendyk, an emergency co-ordinator in the North Okanagan and Shuswap region, said people living along the Shuswap River need to be prepared for the worst.

"It could come up quickly. So the emergency operations centre is advising property owners in those areas prone to flooding to move your livestock to higher ground," Molendyk said.

"If you're in an area that has flooded before, sandbag your property and we're saying be prepared to evacuate if necessary."

Molendyk says the area near the mouth of the Shuswap River at Mara Lake is of particular concern.

Kelowna, which is approximately 90 kilometres south of Enderby, has already experienced a troubling creek overrun this month.

On Thursday, residents of an apartment building in Kelowna had a close call after water from Mission Creek began pushing through a 30-year-old retaining wall and threatened to flood the entire complex.

The city declared a state of local emergency and residents were put under evacuation alert as crews worked through the night to save their homes.

See the original post:
Flooding threatens Kelowna, wider Okanagan region

JACKSONVILLE Three requests recommended by the Lake Advisory Board were denied at the Jacksonville City Council meeting on Tuesday.

Brandon and Brandy Bannister requested a variance from the council to build a retaining wall on their property. The council denied the request because it was in violation of the city lake rules and regulations.

Elridge Moak represented the Bannisters and said the proposed plan was for property improvement on privately owned land.

The motion was denied, stating any work done to the property would be at the homeowner's risk.

George Conrad were in the middle of building a 12-foot retaining wall and boat ramp, but was given a stop order by Will Cole, public works director.

The council members not only denied the request but asked Conrad to remove the work that was started.

Mo Raissi, city manager, said a committee was put together to analyze the rules and regulations of Lake Jacksonville a couple of years ago, but prevention of building of retaining walls was always in the regulations.

There was a reason that was put in place to protect the other homeowners, he said. When you change the shoreline, you're going to impact the lake. The water has to go somewhere and pushing the shoreline can cause a flood to your next door neighbor.

Raissi said lake side residents live outside the city limits but the properties are leased lots by the city. Lake residents pay an average of $30 a year on those lots, he said.

They can come ask the building officials to make sure they can a put retaining wall in, look at the property line, make sure they will not extend the property line, he said.

Read the rest here:
Council rejects lake residents’ requests

By Johnna Klossing, jklossing@cbs4qc.com

The Riverside Cemetery in Moline is known for its beautiful views, peaceful setting, and history. However, a piece of that history could come tumbling down if something isn't done soon. A 138-year-old retaining wall supports a small portion of the cemetery, but it is crumbling. That's why Tuesday city leaders voted to pay for a study that will determine the best way to fix the wall, so the areas founding fathers, don't go sliding down the hill.

"That's something we do not want to happen, we want to keep the citizens of Moline in place, it's a duty we have to maintain cemeteries," Moline Mayor Don Welvaert said.

Welvaert said the wall has been a concern for a while. Several years ago part of it even caused a mud slide right into the Riverside Park pool.

"There was a portion of the hillside that did erode away, washed down the hill and indeed did go into the new aquatics center. We had to drain it and clean it out."

Welvaert said the engineering study will not only take a look at the stability of this retaining wall, but the entire hillside, which is covered in headstones.

"The engineering firm will evaluate the entire hillside to make sure either a, it is an isolated incident, or b... more work is needed to secure the sloping hillside."

Moline Resident Paul Kelty walks his dog in the cemetery several times a week and said he is glad the city is stepping up to preserve the historic site.

"I think it's a worthwhile thing with the history behind this cemetery. There are so many areas where they have let cemeteries just go to waste. This one is fairly well preserved in general, so that keeping that up is a good thing," Kelty said.

The study will cost around $27,000. City leaders said once it's complete they will decide what to do next. They said they do have $200,000 set aside for repairs.

More:
Riverside Cemetery in need of repairs

HUDSON Vandals covered the former gorilla building and a retaining wall with graffiti and destroyed a sign at Benson Park, a town official said Tuesday.

The damage occurred sometime after the park once home to the former Bensons Wild Animal Farm closed at 9 p.m. Monday, said Harry Schibanoff, who chairs the subcommittee that oversees maintenance and operations of the 166-acre, town-owned, recreational park.

Town officials learned of the damage after the park reopened at 5 a.m. Tuesday, he said.

In the interior portion of the gorilla house, there was graffiti on just about every wall, including the ceiling, Schibanoff said.

A rear retaining wall in the former bear cage also was covered with graffiti, he said.

A lot of volunteers have put thousands of hours of work into this park. Its very discouraging to see something like this happen, Schibanoff said.

He could not estimate what it would cost to remove the graffiti and repair the damage, but he anticipated the town would rely heavily on volunteers to get it done.

Hudson police had no information on the incident when contacted early Tuesday night.

Schibanoff said he does not believe police have any suspects.

Bensons Wild Animal Park, which also had been known as Bensons Wild Animal Farm, closed in 1987. The town bought the site and reopened it in 2010 as Benson Park.

Read more from the original source:
Vandals cover Benson Park building with graffiti

Published Friday June 8, 2012 ";var zflag_nid="1431";var zflag_cid="512/511";var zflag_sid="1";var zflag_width="1";var zflag_height="1";var zflag_sz="31";

LEHIGH, Iowa (AP) More land is sliding into a ravine at a rural cemetery near Lehigh where heavy rains a while back caused erosion so severe that caskets, vaults and bones were exposed.

The damage, which happened in 2009 and 2010, is in a section at the back of Oak Grove Cemetery that has the oldest graves. Last year a contractor donated his labor to build an 18-foot retaining wall to prevent further erosion. The wall didn't last long.

The middle section of the modular plastic landscaping brick has collapsed, and the rest of the wall appears to be failing too. Turf the length of the wall has sunk. So has the fencing. But no graves are exposed.

We had a lot of volunteer labor to help. It was a good charity, but we still have the same problem, said Phil Berglund, a member of the Yell Township Board of Trustees, which oversees the cemetery.

It's just as bad as it was before, only now we don't have the graves out over the edge, he said.

A judge ruled last year the state could issue permits to have remains at Oak Grove exhumed and reburied. All but two graves closest to the ravine have since been moved to other areas of the cemetery, Berglund said.

Webster County Board member Eddie Peterson said the trustees are responsible for the care of the cemetery, but there's a limit to the money available to fix the problem.

Someone stepped up to fix it and it looked good for a while, but a lot of it is just dropping off. I don't know if there is a good way to fix it; it's a pretty steep ravine. People talk about how the trustees need to do something, but they are doing their very best, Peterson said.

The contractor who built the wall, Tim Schultz, said he doesn't know what is causing the problem.

Read the original here:
Erosion still undermining Iowa cemetery

BETHLEHEM, Pa. -

A retaining wall is in desperate need of repair behind a property at 1028 Mechanic Street in south Bethlehem, according to a man who addressed Bethlehem City Council Tuesday night.

If this wall comes down, somebodys going to get killed, warned Robert Delker.

Delker, who resides in Northampton, said the home at that address was owned by his mother but is being transferred to him.

Delker told council an engineer hired by the city to inspect the wall in 2004 concluded it is leaning and in danger of collapsing.

Eight years later, the wall is getting worse, warned Delker. He said in the last few weeks, three big pieces of concrete broke off from a portion of the wall that is next door to his mothers home.

He warned the wall could collapse on children playing in yards beneath it.

Delker said he first brought the matter to City Council in April, but has gotten no response from Bethlehems administration. I got absolutely no where.

He said the city administrators told him it would be opening cans of worms by going on private property to fix walls. But Delker stressed a portion of the wall was repaired by the city in the 1980s.

Delker read a letter from State Sen. Lisa Boscola stating the wall is a public safety concern for those residents living in that neighborhood. Should this wall collapse in the future, it could be a grave outcome nobody wants to witness. In her letter, sent to the city, Boscola expressed hope a solution can be worked out between the city and the property owners.

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Bethlehem Council hears safety concerns about a falling wall and cars hitting school kids

THE collapse of a retaining wall at Olivers Hill has officially been blamed on bad design.

VicRoads regional director Peter Todd said an independent investigation had found the key contributing factor to the collapse related to design assumptions made about the weight of the retaining wall.

As a result, when constructed, the wall was not able to withstand the loads being imposed on it, Mr Todd said.

In light of this information, VicRoads has reviewed its design processes to address this matter.

The investigation also looked at design options for a new retaining wall at the site.

Mr Todd said a structure, similar in nature to the previous wall, was still considered the most appropriate for this site, given the close proximity of the road and private properties on top of the road embankment.

Detailed design is under way.

At this stage, it is expected that the construction of the new retaining wall will commence in October and be completed before the end of 2012, he said.

A retaining wall of rock-filled wire baskets being constructed at the bottom of Olivers Hill collapsed on Thursday, April 19, causing traffic chaos for motorists.

>> PICTURES: Olivers Hill wall collapse

Read the rest here:
Bad design caused Olivers Hill wall fall

THE collapse of a retaining wall at Olivers Hill has officially been blamed on bad design.

VicRoads regional director Peter Todd said an independent investigation had found the key contributing factor to the collapse related to design assumptions made about the weight of the retaining wall.

As a result, when constructed, the wall was not able to withstand the loads being imposed on it, Mr Todd said.

In light of this information, VicRoads has reviewed its design processes to address this matter.

The investigation also looked at design options for a new retaining wall at the site.

Mr Todd said a structure, similar in nature to the previous wall, was still considered the most appropriate for this site, given the close proximity of the road and private properties on top of the road embankment.

Detailed design is under way.

At this stage, it is expected that the construction of the new retaining wall will commence in October and be completed before the end of 2012, he said.

A retaining wall of rock-filled wire baskets being constructed at the bottom of Olivers Hill collapsed on Thursday, April 19, causing traffic chaos for motorists.

>> PICTURES: Olivers Hill wall collapse

Original post:
Poor design blamed for Olivers Hill wall fall