Mud slide closes Claremont Access

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

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Mud slide closes Claremont Access