This winter’s mild temperatures likely contributed to the collapse of the retaining wall along the Claremont Access, says a local geoscientist.

Wilf Ruland says that the constant temperature fluctuations over the past several months have been especially hard on infrastructure — including the retaining wall that burst and unleashed mud and debris on the roadway Wednesday.

“What repeated freeze and thaw can do is lead soils and things like road beds to break down,” Ruland said. “It could have loosened things on the cliff above the top retaining wall. One possibility is that the water coming off of that slope and cliff face, together with the freeze and thaw, just loosened things up.”

Gerry Davis, the city’s director of public works, said the downbound access lanes will remain closed until at least Friday morning. Engineers have finished investigating the portion of the retaining wall that collapsed, but were expected to continue to check on the structure of the whole wall into Friday.

Davis says the city will reopen the access as soon as possible.

“If the safety issue is addressed and we can even open one lane, we’ll do that,” he said. “We appreciate the patience of the community, understanding there is a safety issue, and we thank them for their co-operation.”

So far, the city hasn’t released any details about the cost of the damage.

Like Ruland, Davis says the weather was likely a contributing factor to the collapse. Davis said yard waste dumped over the escarpment trapped moisture against the wall, which also could have caused damage. Ruland said extra moisture could have permeated deep into the soil and gotten trapped against the wall.

In most years, the freezing ground creates a barrier against any running groundwater.

“If, for some reason, the drainage system behind the wall isn’t working properly and you have a buildup of water behind that, it becomes a dam,” Ruland said, “and the thing isn’t built to be a dam. Water is incredibly powerful and heavy.”

When the access was last inspected in November 2010, engineers recommended that minor repairs — such as removing the yard waste and replacing a damaged guide rail — be completed within five years. That wasn’t done because of scant infrastructure resources, Davis said.

The next retaining walls scheduled to be replaced are at the Sherman Cut and the Queen Street access, scheduled for 2013 and 2014. Since those walls are scheduled to be replaced, they are inspected annually.

Davis said the Claremont retaining wall was built in 1971 and so was still within its expected 40- to 50-year lifespan.

“In this case, these panels had life left in them. And they failed,” Davis said. “We did everything we could.”

ereilly@thespec.com

905-526-2452 | @EmmaatTheSpec

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Claremont Access cleanup begins

The downbound lanes on the Claremont Access remain closed — possibly for days as the city works to repair a Niagara Escarpment retaining wall that burst and spilled mud all over the roadway.

The accident occurred Wednesday afternoon as motorists were going about their usual business of using the access to get up and down Hamilton Mountain.

There were no injuries and the upbound lanes of the important artery were reopened to traffic two hours after the mudslide.

Brian Carnahan, who stopped to take pictures of the mudslide, was heading downbound on the access when he came upon the broken retaining wall. A section of the wall and a tree had spilled onto the roadway.

“All of a sudden as I turned the corner I started to see this cluster of stuff in front of me,” he said.

Carnahan says another man had got out of his car and was directing traffic around the mudslide. It had reduced the downbound lanes to one lane.

He said as he started taking pictures, he heard a cracking sound “and it started to rain on me with water.”

“There was so much water there, and it just gave,” he said. “I’m surprised it didn’t fall on somebody.”

Carnahan said he decided to leave a few minutes later in case another section of the retaining wall gave way.

“Thank God it didn’t happen during rush hour because there would be dead people, that’s for sure,” he added.

Gerry Davis, general manager of public works, told city council Wednesday night the retaining wall was last assessed and investigated for possible failure in November 2010. He said retaining walls on major road are inspected every two years.

Davis explained it is a double retaining wall and that the top wall had collapsed and crushed the bottom wall. Mud spilled onto the road and covered a tree that stood in the way.

The Claremont Access retaining wall was built in 1971.

Davis said repair costs had not been determined.

The failure might be weather-related, he told councillors, as there are no underground water mains or anything like that in the vicinity.

He said the city has commissioned a geotechnical and a structural engineer to do an assessment on the wall.

“They have to make sure it’s safe before sending a contractor in,” he added.

Staff Sergeant Greg Doerr of Hamilton Police says the downbound lanes will be closed for an extended period, possibly days. Police were on the scene and Davis said public works would also be there.

City spokesperson Kelly Anderson said earlier in the day that structural and geological engineers were on-site to determine why the retaining wall failed.

The Claremont Access links Upper James Street with Victoria Avenue North in lower Hamilton. It is the newest of the city’s Mountain access routes and carries about 16,000 vehicles each day.

The Sherman Access reopened at the end of October after a month-long closure. It was temporarily shut down when a section collapsed due to drainage problems caused by the Niagara Escarpment. The cost of those emergency repairs was $350,000.

Special to The Spectator

With files from Daniel Nolan and Emma Reilly

Read the original:
Mud slide closes Claremont Access

MARION TWP. - A 19-month-old-boy died Friday after concrete from a retaining wall crumbled and fell on the boy, the Livingston County sheriff said.

Sheriff Bob Bezotte said the boy and his 5-year-old sibling were playing on top of an underground cellar that sits on a small slope at the family's home in the 5000 block of Dutcher Road near Coon Lake Road in rural western Livingston County at around 2:10 p.m. Friday. The boys' parents were in the home, he said.

"Over time, gravity and the elements slowly forced the earth to move down the slope," Bezotte explained. "While the 5-year-old was playing on top and the 19-month-old was below, the wall caved in."

The wall crushed the 19-month-old boy's head, Bezotte said.

The boy was transported to the University of Michigan Medical Center in Ann Arbor, where doctors worked for hours trying to revive the child, Bezotte said. The boy died at around 4:30 p.m., the sheriff said.

"It was a horrible accident," the sheriff added.

Excerpt from:
Wall collapse crushes boy

BUENOS AIRES -- A packed commuter train entering a station at morning rush hour Wednesday suddenly smashed into a retaining wall, crumpling cars and leaving at least 49 dead, 550 injured and dozens trapped in the twisted wreckage.

Survivors described a full train – there reportedly were as many as 800 aboard – and a tremendous impact, with passengers thrown on top of each other and hurled to the floor.

"Unfortunately, we must report that there are 49 dead in the accident," including a child, police spokesman Nestor Rodriguez told a news conference, according to AFP.

Civil defense officials said at least 550 people were injured in the crash.

AFP said witnesses reported it appeared the train's brakes failed as it pulled into the "Once" station on the western outskirts of Buenos Aires.

Transportation Secretary Juan Pablo Schiavi said the train entered the station at a speed of 12 miles (20 km) per hour and failed to stop, crashing into a retaining wall at the end of the track.

"It was a very serious accident," he said at a news conference. "Cars piled up on top of each other and one of them went six meters (yards) inside another car."

"People suffered contusions, but there are much more complex cases involving traumas of the thorax. There are people trapped alive in the cars."

At least 30 people were trapped in the twisted wreckage of the first and second cars of the train, Alberto Crescenti, the head of the city's emergency services office, said, according to AFP.

Firefighters and rescue workers had to break through skylights in the train's roofs to get inside.

"I felt the explosion of the crash. It was very loud. The train did not brake, I saw people hurt in their necks, arms, legs," AFP quoted passenger Pedro Fuentes as saying.

Another passenger, who identified herself as Myriam, said she was with her two children, ages six and four.

"In a blink of an eye we were on the floor. I don't know how we got out. The door crashed in on me, and I covered the girl."

The train's driver was carried away on a stretcher.

Wednesday's wreck came just months after eight people were killed when their school bus collided with a train in central Argentina.

Another collision between a train and a bus in Buenos Aires last September killed 11 people and wounded another 212.

REUTERS

Rescue workers extract a passenger from a commuter train that crashed into the Once train station at rush hour in Buenos Aires Wednesday.

Original post:
At least 49 dead, 550 injured after Argentina train crash

A packed commuter train slammed into a retaining wall at a railway terminus in Buenos Aires during rush hour Wednesday, leaving at least 49 dead, 550 injured, and dozens trapped in the wreckage.

"The train was full and the impact was tremendous," a passenger identified only as Ezequiel told local television, adding that medics at the scene appeared overwhelmed by the scale of the disaster.

Witnesses said passengers were hurled on top of each other and knocked to the floor "in the blink of an eye," some losing consciousness and others seriously injured.

"Unfortunately, we must report that there are 49 dead in the accident," including a child, police spokesman Nestor Rodriguez told a news conference.

Civil defense officials said at least 550 people were injured in the crash, which witnesses said occurred after the train's brakes failed as it was arriving at a station on the western outskirts of Buenos Aires.

The toll surpassed the city's last major rail disaster just five months ago when two trains and bus collided during rush hour, killing 11 people and injuring more than 200.

A dozen ambulances were dispatched to the scene, and officials said many passengers had suffered multiple fractures and abrasions.

At least 30 people were trapped in the twisted wreckage of the first and second cars of the train, Alberto Crescenti, the head of the city's emergency services office, said.

Transportation Secretary Juan Pablo Schiavi said the train entered the station at a speed of 20 kilometers (12 miles) an hour, and failed to stop, crashing into a retaining wall at the end of the track.

"It was a very serious accident," he said at a news conference. "Cars piled up on top of each other and one them went six meters (yards) inside another car."

"People suffered contusions, but there are much more complex cases involving traumas of the thorax. There are people trapped alive in the cars."

Firefighters and rescue workers had to break through skylights in the train's roofs to open a path to those trapped inside.

"I felt the explosion of the crash. It was very loud. The train did not brake, I saw people hurt in their necks, arms, legs," said Pedro Fuentes, a passenger.

Another passenger, who identified herself as Myriam, said she was with her two children, ages six and four.

"In a blink of an eye we were on the floor. I don't know how we got out. The door crashed in one me, and I covered the girl."

The train's driver was injured but rescue workers pried him loose from the wreckage of his cabin. Local television showed images of him and several people being carried away on stretchers.

An investigation into the crash has been opened, but an employee with the rail line's maintenance department, Monica Slotauer, said "the brakes failed and this is the result of a lack of investment."

The Sarmiento rail line, which links the center of Buenos Aires to a densely populated suburb 70 kilometers (44 miles) to the west of the city, uses rolling stock acquired in the 1960s.

The accident occurred just five months after the Argentine capital was shocked by another rush hour transit disaster, that one involving a collision between two trains and a bus.

That accident in September killed 11 people including the bus driver and injured more 200.

The region's transit system has been plagued with serious accidents in recent years.

In March 2008, 18 people were killed and 47 injured when a bus was hit by a train in Dolores, 212 kilometers (132 miles) south of Buenos Aires.

Argentina's deadliest train tragedy was in 1970, an accident that killed 200 people in northern Buenos Aires.

See the original post:
49 dead, hundreds injured in Buenos Aires train crash

Residents of Grand Haven’s Poplar Ridge area near Highland Park will soon be seeing improvements to aging retaining walls.

City Council on Monday unanimously approved a $60,956 contract with Katerberg-VerHage Inc. to perform the work.

The city will cover one-third of the cost and residents residing near the walls paying the remaining two-thirds, pending the approval of a special assessment district.

Councilman Mike Fritz said he was excited to see the city finally giving the go-ahead for the retaining wall project.

“It’s been over eight years that we’ve been discussing this,” he said.

According to Grand Haven Project Manager Julie Beaton, the people in charge of the project came highly recommended by other communities and people who utilized their services.

“I had extremely positive responses for them,” she said, adding that she spoke with the contractor at length about the project and what it would entail.

“Probably the most significant thing is they’re going to attack it differently than we had proposed,” Beaton said.

She said the city had proposed driving in sheet pile to support the wall, then repair it before removing the sheet pile wall when they were done.

A special public hearing is planned for March 5 at 7:30 p.m. to discuss the special assessment district created by the city to help pay for the new walls.

To read more of this story, see today’s print or e-edition of the Grand Haven Tribune.

See the original post here:
City approves contractor for Highland Park retaining wall replacement

by STEVE STOLER

WFAA

Posted on February 20, 2012 at 10:16 PM

Updated Monday, Feb 20 at 10:43 PM

CARROLLTON — Three Carrollton families who spent the last two years fearing their homes would end up in a creek say they've now run out of options.

So they're going to court, attempting to force the city to repair a sinking retaining wall that's devastating their backyards and threatening their homes.

Every time it rains, their backyards sink a little lower.

"It's just getting worse," said Laura Brewer, one of the homeowners.

They've watched their backyards on Barclay Drive slip away for the last two years. Now they're running out of time and patience.

"We tried everything else we could think of," Brewer said.

Brewer and her husband joined two other families and filed a lawsuit against the city. They're claiming Carrollton set a precedent when they made repairs to the same wall down the street and picked up the tab.

"[The city's] lawyer says it would be against the law for them to help us, because it's private property," Brewer said. "But we believe they are responsible, because they fixed the same wall in 1996."

The lawsuit also accuses the city of negligence during 2005 construction to replace a sewer line on Dudley Branch Creek.

The homeowners claim when crews moved dirt, they covered small drainage holes in the wall. They believe over time, the soil became even more saturated, placing additional stress on the wall and causing it to fail.

"I'm very scared our house is going to slide down," said Petra Chudejova. "And I'm afraid my children will get hurt."

Carrollton's engineering manager has maintained all along that the wall is on private property, and it is therefore the homeowners' responsibility to make repairs.

On Monday, city leaders would not discuss the pending lawsuit.

The homeowners say the repairs could cost up to $75,000 at each of their homes.

E-mail sstoler@wfaa.com

Read more from the original source:
Carrollton homeowners sue city over retaining wall damage

Contractors for the Texas Department of Transportation have begun work on a project that department spokesman Marc Shepherd said had prompted a lot of telephone calls.

Just about where the U.S. 69 North exits is on eastbound Interstate 10, there's a large crack in the pavement.

Shepherd said the crack formed after the retaining wall beneath the interstate shifted. This, in turn, caused the soil supporting that section of roadway to shift as well.

"It left a void underneath the pavement, causing it to drop down 2 to 3 inches," he said.

In December, the department accepted bids on the $791,166.90 project that involves repairing the retaining wall, leveling the road and the repairing the crack. The work requires a couple of stages and crews now are working on the first stage, Shepherd said.

For the next month, workers from Gibson and Associates will be burying and attaching support beams to the wall that runs parallel to frontage road, near where it intersects with Harrison Avenue. These beams will prevent the wall from slipping any further.

Once the wall is stabilized, the work will move onto the road itself.

The department will begin shutting down U.S. 69 North at night, drilling into the pavement and injecting an expanding polymer into the dirt beneath the roadway. The polymer will expand and level the depressed concrete, allowing crews to permanently repair the crack. Shepherd said this work will be done at night to minimize the interference with traffic and increase safety for the workers.

AMorale@BeaumontEnterprise.com

Twitter.com/Bmt_Amos

The rest is here:
I-10 at U.S. 69 getting road fix

Grand Haven City Council will be looking at upgrades to retaining walls on Poplar Ridge during its meeting on Monday night.

It will be held at City Hall, 519 Washington Ave., beginning at 7:30 p.m.

City Council will consider accepting the low bid and approving a contractor service agreement with Katerberg-VerHage Inc. of Grand Rapids for $60,956 for replacement of the retaining walls on either side of Poplar Ridge.

Funding for the project is coming from a special assessment, wherein the nearby property owners will be responsible for paying for two-thirds of the cost of the project.

The work will have to be completed by or before May 23, or started after Sept. 5. Reasons behind this are due to constraints related to staging areas, execution and access to the construction site.

Once the contract is awarded by City Council, the contractor will submit a joint permit application to the state and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to perform the work

in the critical dune area. When this permit is received, it will determine when the project can begin.

A separate project, scheduled to begin in the spring, involves extending sanitary sewer into the area of the retaining wall project. The two contractors will be directed to work together on schedules, access and minimizing conflicts that may adversely impact either project.

Read the original here:
Poplar retaining wall on Monday’s council agenda

MT. GRETNA - Borough Council on Monday night approved spending up to $15,000 to replace a failed retaining wall on Lancaster Avenue.

One quote has been obtained for $4,800 for materials and $9,800 for the required excavation, according to Bill Care, public works director.

The law requires two more quotes to be obtained before the project may begin, but council members said they are hopeful the project can get under way before the next meeting.

The borough received a $10,000 grant from the county to assist in funding the project. The remainder of the funds will be taken from the liquid fuels fund.

In other business:

As requested by council, Care reported on the cost of a small chipper that could be used to chip brush. The borough currently picks up brush and hauls it to be burned.

Council members said they believe they should move away from open burning, so last month they asked Care to research the cost of a small chipper. Care said it would cost about $8,800 to buy a small chipper similar to one demonstrated recently in the borough.

Council members held off on a decision, asking Care to put together a list of upcoming projects and their costs and have the list ready to study at next month's meeting.

Council members adopted a hazard mitigation resolution plan. Care noted the adoption of the plan would allow the borough to be eligible for grant funds should a disaster occur. Barney Myer and Ed Kosoff were appointed to serve as members of the Mt. Gretna Authority board. In the absence of a representative of the Cornwall Police Department, council President Charles "Chuck" Allwein presented the January police report. Officers spent 44.5 hours and drove 121 miles on borough business during the month, he said.

See more here:
Gretna to replace ailing wall