City Hall posted traffic barriers along Royal Street in 2011 after a section of the road failed. The road was temporarily shored up at the time. The municipal government later this year plans to strengthen a stretch of retaining wall in an effort to prevent another road failure. Park Record file photo

Park City officials plan to strengthen a stretch of retaining wall on Royal Street later this year that was temporarily shored up in 2011 after failing that year.

Matt Cassel, the Park City engineer, said the project will entail approximately 400 feet of the wall. It is located approximately 1,000 feet downhill from the intersections with Golden Eagle Drive. The retaining wall is on the downhill side of the street.

The city engineer said crews will install what are known as soil nails, which are made of steel encased in concrete. They will each be up to 40 feet in length, he said. The soil nails will be driven through the retaining wall and into the earth behind the wall. One soil nail will be put approximately every seven feet, Cassel said.

He said the work is expected to add at least 20 years to that stretch of the retaining wall's lifespan. It was installed in the early 1980s, as Deer Valley was developed.

"It will be the final repair," Cassel said.

The stretch of Royal Street failed in mid-2011. Officials at the time indicated water was washing away soil underneath the road, causing the road surface to crack. The road surface started to slip downhill.

Cassel said repairs were undertaken in 2011 that were expected to last five years. Further study led officials to pursue the upcoming work, he said.

The city engineer said the work is anticipated to start shortly after Independence Day and last up to three months. Royal Street will be open at night and on weekends during the work. Cassel said City Hall plans to ensure one lane is open during work hours. Flaggers will direct traffic when just one lane is open. The project does not include roadwork.

City Hall recently published an advertisement seeking bids for the work. The bid deadline is May 29. Cassel said he anticipates the work will cost in the low seven figures. A contract of that value will require approval by the Park City Council.

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Royal Street: what are soil nails and why are they needed?

Blocks of broken concrete and clods of sodden mud collapsed on to a Dunedin driveway early yesterday, blocking vehicle access to five houses.

The affected home owners in Asquith St, Caversham, want the Dunedin City Council to deal with the issue, but the council says the wall was built by the developer of their subdivision in the 1950s, and is entirely on private property.

Residents had no vehicle access to their homes after the concrete retaining wall, which is about 60 years old, collapsed.

Resident Ken Stevens said he was woken by a ''thump'' about 6.45am.

''I got up - I thought `something's wrong','' he said.

Mr Stevens looked outside and discovered the retaining wall - and plenty of soil from the grass verge it held back - in the private driveway that services the Asquith St homes.

He said there had been a crack in the wall for about 14 years, and residents had been in discussion with the council for the past five years or so.

Property owner Mark Ford was also at the site of the slip yesterday morning. He said each property extended across the driveway to the wall.

He, and other residents at the site yesterday were strongly of the view the council had a responsibility - particularly because the soil that had dropped on to the driveway was council property.

But council transportation policy engineer Jon Visser said yesterday the driveway was ''completely'' on private property.

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Collapsed wall is on private property: DCC

Bill Ryan/The Gazette

Workers testing a retaining wall that partially collapsed at the beginning of April, in the Kentlands, near the intersection of Quince Orchard Road and Pawnee Drive, on Friday.

Nearly six weeks after a portion of the Kentlands retaining wall collapsed on a snowy Sunday afternoon, the construction process to repair the structure is still chugging along.

Neil Harris, board chairman of the Kentlands Citizen Assembly, said construction on the wall is coming along nicely, but rainy weather has caused work to extend past the original estimate of six weeks. Repairs now are expected to be completed by the first week in June.

The weather wasnt as kind as we would have hoped, he said.

A section of the wall, near the intersection of Quince Orchard Road and Pawnee Drive, collapsed abruptly at about 4:20 p.m. on March 31.

No one was injured, but two townhouses on Ridgepoint Place were evacuated and subsequently condemned by the city of Gaithersburg.

The wall, owned by the Kentlands Citizen Assembly, is made of hundreds of concrete blocks, each weighing 200 pounds, according to Gaithersburg City Manager Tony Tomasello.

Shortly after the collapse, Harris said the cause of the break was likely due to poor drainage and the association had been preparing to fix the problems before the incident. About $500,000 had been set aside for wall repairs previously, but it now looks like the total price tag will be about $200,000 to $250,000, Harris said.

Since then, significant work has been done to alleviate the drainage problems, including the addition of about two feet of a crushed gravel material to a 75-foot stretch of the wall to prevent future water buildup. Harris said the gravel will replace plywood or a similar material that was there.

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Construction continues at site of Gaithersburg retaining wall collapse -- Gazette.Net

Integrity Builders and Dirtworks Pastoral Cove Site Work - 2nd Course of blocks for retaining wall
This is a video showing the "skid steer" bringing the quarry block to the backhoe with a gripper that then sets the block down into the 2nd course. This work...

By: Tim Wilkens

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Integrity Builders and Dirtworks Pastoral Cove Site Work - 2nd Course of blocks for retaining wall - Video

4:26pm, Sun 11 May 2014 Last updated Sun 11 May 2014

A retaining wall has collapsed at a recycling plant in the eastern Chinese city of Qingdao on Saturday, killing 18 people.

The wall crushed a house with 40 people in it, the Qingdao government information office said.

The wall have been waterlogged in a recent rain storm.

China's eastern coastal and southern regions have been drenched by heavy rains in recent days.

A China-US railway is just one of four ambitious projects the country is thinking about...

The Chinese Academy of Engineering have outlined a plan to connect the world by high-speed rail,...

The remains of a new species of dinosaur, which belonged to the same family as Tyrannosaurus rex has been discovered in China.

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18 people crushed to death as wall collapses in China

The Canadian Press - ONLINE EDITION

By: The Associated Press

Sunday, May. 11, 2014 at 5:12 AM | Comments: 0

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In this photo taken by mobile phone, firefighters pull out a victim following a wall collapse in Qingdao in east China's Shandong province Sunday, May 11, 2014. The wall collapse triggered by heavy rains at a recycling plant killed 18 people and injured three others early Sunday in the eastern city of Qingdao, state media reported. (AP Photo) CHINA OUT

BEIJING, China - Heavy rain caused a retaining wall to collapse at a recycling plant in the eastern Chinese city of Qingdao on Sunday, killing 18 people, state media reported.

The wall that collapsed crushed a house for workers in which 40 people were gathered, the Qingdao government information office said.

The wall collapsed due to waterlogging after a rainstorm, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. It said 18 people were killed and three others were injured.

Authorities were investigating the collapse.

China's eastern coastal and southern regions have been drenched by heavy rains in recent days. Two other deaths in Hunan province and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region were linked to the rains as flooding and landslides hit swaths of the country.

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Wall collapses amid heavy rain at recycling plant in eastern China, killing 18 people

High retaining wall safety hazard

By: Gerald Warren

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High retaining wall safety hazard - Video

The workplace death of a young pipe layer in Burnaby is now the subject of a criminal investigation by police.

WorkSafeBC confirmed Thursday it has referred the investigation into the Oct. 11, 2012, incident which killed one man and injured another to Burnaby RCMP.

Staff Sergeant Major John Buis said his detachment will now review WorkSafeBCs investigation to determine if there is any criminality involved.

It will be separate and independent, but relying on a lot of things that they came up with, he said. And, obviously, if we have to re-interview people or get other evidence, [we will].

Jeffrey Caron and Thomas Richer were in an excavation pit north of Edinburgh Street installing a storm and sanitation line when a concrete retaining wall adjacent to the pit collapsed.

According to the WorkSafeBC report, Mr. Richer had raised concerns about the conditions twice before: first on Oct. 3, when he told the foreman he thought ground conditions in the pit had changed to a more sandy material, and then again on the morning of the accident, when he remarked, The wall looks like it has shifted. Both times, the foreman said not to worry and keep working, according to the report.

After the second complaint, the pipe layers re-entered the pit. Minutes later, the concrete wall fell. It pinned Mr. Caron, a 28-year-old originally from Calgary, and he later died of his injuries. Mr. Richer escaped but suffered serious physical injuries and significant mental trauma, according to the report.

It cited the City of Burnaby, as well as firms J. Cote & Son Excavating Ltd., Vector Engineering Services Ltd. and Earthbitat Engineering Inc. for failing to recognize and address known hazards at the workplace. Lack of training, lack of communication about the concrete wall, ineffective safety program management and the fact the foreman failed to act on Mr. Richers concerns also contributed to the fatal accident, the report stated.

WorkSafeBC, which has yet to impose any penalties, is no longer commenting on the matter, instead referring all questions to the Mounties. We dont want to comment because its under investigation by RCMP, spokeswoman Megan Johnston said.

Staff Sgt. Buis said it is rare for such investigations to be referred to his detachment. These dont happen that frequently, he said. I dont recall many, if any, here in Burnaby.

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RCMP to review WorkSafeBCs probe into 2012 death of Burnaby pipe layer

Keystone CountryManor: Product Profile
They Keystone Country Manor wall and cap system allows for the creation of everything from standard retaining walls to outdoor fireplaces, fire pits and more. One of the most versatile hardscapes...

By: Keystone Retaining Walls

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Keystone CountryManor: Product Profile - Video

Keystone Compac: Product Profile
A contractor favorite, Keystone Compac unit is the number one specified commercial retaining wall product on the market. Perfect for everything from backyard walls to larger commercial structures,...

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Keystone Compac: Product Profile - Video