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

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 retaining wall

Kingsport DUI suspect strikes home, drives car over embankment Published July 30th, 2012 4:14 pm

Photo by David Grace.

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 Monday afternoon. Kingsport Police Officer Gerald Ray says 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 further, 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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Kingsport DUI suspect strikes home, drives car over embankment

25-07-2012 07:21 215-249-1236 Landscaping Hardscaping: Ponds: Waterfalls: Retaining Walls: Design: Installation: Maintenance: Lawns: Snow Removal: Leaf Clean Up: Full Service Landscaper: 1864 S Easton Rd. Doylestown, PA 18901

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Boulder Retaining Wall Construct.Bucks County, PA Doylestown, PA Area: orserlandscaping.com - Video

With an agreement between the town and Wildlands Trust of Southeastern Massachusetts in place, a retaining wall at the new school construction site wont be needed.

A temporary easement provides access to the site of the new middle and high school. Selectmen approved a license agreement Monday night that allows the town to work on a specific area of Wildlands Trust property in order to build the school and reslope a portion of the Wildlands Trust property.

Selectman Shawn Dahlen said the plan to cut down some trees, reslope part of the property and do some landscaping is the preferred alternative to building a retaining wall.

It will be a preferable long-term solution, he said.

According to School Building Committee Chairman Elizabeth Lewis, the site contractor has installed erosion control in the form of hay bales, silt fencing and construction fencing around the work areas.Work is underway to install temporary parking at the high school site along the front and west side of the property. Tree cutting is complete and gravel will be placed in these areas.

Behind Alden elementary, a portion of the fields area has been cleared and graveled to provide an area for the contractor trailers and parking, and an access road has been installed from Alden Street near the tennis courts to the contractors staging area. The existing paved roads behind the middle school have been reclaimed (removed and pulverized) for the contractor access roads.

Shortly, the storage shed and concessions buildings behind the middle school will be demolished. Work on the building pad will begin this week.The soil below the building foundations has to be removed and recompacted, which will take place over the course of the next month.

The official groundbreaking ceremony for the co-located middle and high school was held in June. The school is expected to be completed in two years and be ready for its first students in the fall of 2014.

The towns share of the $128 million model school building project is $77 million, with the Massachusetts School Building Authority contributing more than $51 million, or approximately 44 percent, of the cost.

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Property use agreement in place helps with Duxbury school building project