LITTLE FERRY - Plans have been made by the borough to replace a retaining wall at Indian Lake Park. The project went out to bid April 26.

"As things get older, they become less safe and need to be replaced," said Borough Administrator Michael Capabianco. "The [existing wall's] timbers are 20 to 30 years old and starting to decay."

Borough Engineer Ken Job noted the retaining wall is necessary.

"The old one is falling over," he said. "There's a difference in grade between the walkway and park and adjacent ground. The wall works between the change in grade. The wall is vertical."

"The ground is on one level. Then there's a vertical wall and the ground at another level," he explained.

Concrete blocks will be used in the new wall, Job said, adding it is referred to as a modular block reinforced-earth retaining wall.

"With reinforced earth, when soil is put behind it, they compact the soil so it also acts as support," he said.

The new wall will be the same dimensions as the existing one: roughly 730 feet in length by 3 feet in height, according to Job.

The wall is located along Indian Lake Road.

Bids for the new retaining wall are due May 8. Capabianco said the project will be paid for with an approximately $110,000 county Open Space grant from two years ago as well as with borough capital funds.

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Little Ferry out to bid for park retaining wall

Saturday, April 28, 2012

MAYOR Mauricio Domogan appealed anew to Malacaang for the immediate release of the P80 million rehabilitation fund of the collapsed Irisan dumpsite retaining wall.

The mayor said he took advantage of the presence of Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Jesse Robredo during the dialogue conducted by the DILG on the SM City Baguio issue.

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Domogan said the city hopes to receive the fund as soon as possible to implement the rehabilitation work before the onset of the rainy season to avoid further untoward incident in the area.

The mayor said President Benigno Aquino III issued a memorandum to declare Baguio City along with Boracay as national asset and historical heritage sites and the city can use this to justify the release of the fund.

We hope that with the Presidents good intention for our city, Malacaang will see the urgency and the necessity of releasing the fund to help us rehabilitate the dumpsite, Domogan said.

The mayor earlier admitted being apprehensive the fund will not make it in time before the typhoon season.

I really hope the release of this fund will not drag on knowing the situation at the dumpsite which still poses risk especially if the retaining wall will not be repaired before the rainy season, he said.

The retaining wall collapsed at the height of a typhoon in August last year causing a trash slide that killed five persons and buried houses along Asin Road.

Link:
Mayor appeals anew for release of dumpsite fund

Blame last year's unusually wet weather.

In August and September, Philadelphia recorded 29.6 inches of rain - that's 70 percent of the annual rainfall in only two months.

After Tropical Storm Lee in September, city engineers made a disturbing discovery along Monoshone Creek: A century-old stone retaining wall had dropped more than five inches.

Not only that, but it was starting to rotate away from land, and rushing water had carved out gaps underneath the wall.

"The wall was beginning to collapse," Perri said.

The Streets Department knew it had to act fast - but just how fast didn't become clear until engineers started to prepare the wall for repairs in November.

They discovered that Lincoln Drive was not sitting on rock.

It was sitting on soil.

That meant that if the retaining wall had collapsed, it would have taken the road with it, Perri said.

"We needed to move fast," he said.

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Averting a washout on Lincoln Drive

STAMFORD -- As redevelopment of Mill River Park moves into its third year, the Mill River Collaborative this week announced the second installment of a $1.8 million contribution.

Charged with fundraising efforts, the private-public partnership on Thursday presented Mayor Michael Pavia with a ceremonial check at the Government Center. The city is set to receive roughly $800,000, representing the final balance of the group's first significant donation.

Last fall, the collaborative contributed about $1 million to begin the first phase of the park's construction that follows the U.S. Army Corps restoration of the Mill River.

"This is the largest single donation that a private group has ever given to the City of Stamford for a public park," said Arthur Selkowitz, chairman of the collaborative.

The total cost of redeveloping the park is estimated at $60 million. While the bulk of the project is to be financed by the city through the sale of tax increment bonds, the collaborative is aiming to raise $20 million through its capital campaign. Thus far, the group has received $6.6 million in pledges.

"The momentum is definitely growing as people see the park under construction," Selkowitz said. He added that the group hopes to reach the $10 million mark by the summer.

Pavia has touted the park as an engine for the city's economic growth.

"The work of the collaborative is already stimulating downtown real estate development and is bringing many sectors of the city together in support of this legacy undertaking," he said in a press release issued by the collaborative.

The first phase of construction, already well underway, is expected to cost around $11.5 million. Since October 2011, workers have been excavating and laying down infrastructure on a 12-acre portion of the park between Broad and Main streets.

Along the eastern banks of the Mill River, a concrete retaining wall has been installed and will eventually be wrapped in granite, according to Milton Puryear, the collaborative's executive director.

Link:
Mill River Collaborative completes $1.8 million donation

Morgan Bond Reporter

5:18 p.m. EDT, April 17, 2012

A man suffering from several medical conditions is in an unknown condition Tuesday after his lawnmower went over a retaining wall, and into a lake.

The incident happened just after noon on the corner of Willis and Rennells on Spring Lake in Fruitport Township. The man was unresponsive and had no pulse when first responds got to the scene.

Authorities have not released the man's name yet, but said he was an older gentlemen. When fire crews arrived they found him laying on a small stretch of beach at the bottom of a retaining wall.

The wall is about 7 feet tall and located on edge of his property. According to rescuers, the man drove the lawn mower over the wall and flipped it upside down. He was not pinned under the lawnmower, but was very close to it. Officials said the man suffered from some cardiac issues and was using a pacemaker. Police are still trying to find out if that played a factor in this accident.

He was in grave condition when he was transported. Efforts continued on the way to the hospital, we had fire personnel with the ambulance. At this point we are not certain of the status, Ken Doctor, Public Safety Officer, Fruitport Township said.

Besides his heart condition, the victim also suffered from diabetes. He was transported to Mercy Hospital in Muskegon. There is no word yet on his current condition.

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Man In Unknown Condition After Driving Lawn Mower Over Retaining Wall

Posted on April 16, 2012, Monday

PLEASE HELP: Saing (left) with some longhouse folk point to the damaged retaining wall in front of their longhouse.

SIBU: Soil erosion threatens a 31-door longhouse in Tanjung Berkakap, Bawang Assan after a retaining wall of belian and concrete piles was damaged by erosion.

The eroded part is no less than 20 metres from the end of Rumah Saing Beliang.

Its longhouse chief, Tuai Rumah Saing, 77, told reporters yesterday the Lebaan River had eaten into a part of the road and motor parking area.

The erosion has worsened in the last four years. If it continues, the road and motor parking area will eventually vanish, he said.

The erosion was caused by fast flowing water, apart from waves created by riverine transport such as express boats and ships.

We are appealing to the government and the peoples representative in the constituency to rebuild the retaining wall to prevent further erosion. If possible, use big blocks of concrete to build the retaining wall, he stated.

Saing said he had brought up the problem to the parties concerned including Bandar Sibu MP, the late Datuk Robert Lau. Representatives from the government department concerned came to survey the problem but no action was taken.

If this project cannot not be carried out at once, we request it to be implemented in stages, he said. The longhouse folk had been waiting for a long time for the solution.

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Longhouse endangered by soil erosion

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Citom requests condo’s traffic plan

When Tropical Storm Tingting struck eight years ago, the hill beside the Barcinas residence in Merizo collapsed, sending rocks and mud tumbling toward the house.

The mud built up against the wall and was almost up to the windows, Dolores Barcinas remembers. Even after the wind and rain had passed, things didn't get better.

"I heard this big noise," she said. "It was a big rock that rolled down from the back of the hill."

Later her son discovered a tree branch had somehow broken through his bedroom window.

But yesterday, after several years of dealing with the unstable mounds of dirt left by the storm, the Barcinases celebrated the return of their backyard.

Gov. Eddie Calvo and some legislators gathered at the house, which is on the main road that weaves through Merizo, for a ribbon-cutting ceremony of a federally funded retaining wall. The wall protects the Barcinas house and the heavily trafficked road from future soil erosion.

The project, which took a month to complete, was the last of seven Tingting projects funded through the Emergency Watershed Program, said Jeff Wheaton, an engineer at the United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service.

The projects -- totaling $2 million -- started soon after the storm, but took time to complete because each site had specific engineering requirements, and there was a lack of resources, he said.

The Merizo wall resembles a giant staircase, and is constructed out of wire baskets filled with heavy stones. The project cost about $200,000.

Calvo joked the wall would be a good place to hang orchids, though the family has said they want to grow beans there.

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Retaining wall helps Merizo family

In just a few days, the town expects to open bids for the reconstruction of the retaining wall in front of the Surf Club. A portion of the wall was destroyed when Tropical Storm Irene roared through town in late August. The town had expected the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to reimburse 75 percent of the estimated $250,000 replacement costs, but learned recently that will not be the case.

First Selectman Fillmore McPherson told the Board of Selectmen Monday that FEMA will reimburse the costs for replacement of only the damaged section of the retaining wall-about 130 feet of the total 260-foot replacement the town has planned.

"Since that entire section of the retaining wall protects the Surf Club building, Town Engineer Mike Ott and I agree that the town would be well served to replace the whole piece," McPherson said.

Ott explained that the present seawall is approximately 600 feet in total and that the town was interested in replacing only 260 feet. Of the 260 feet, only about half was destroyed by Irene. Under FEMA regulations, the town will be reimbursed for 75 percent of the replacement cost for only the damaged section, not the full 260 feet, as the town once assumed.

The new section of seawall will be designed "very differently" from the one it will replace, Ott said. The new 260-foot replacement will be "thicker, deeper, well reinforced," and with more stable footings.

"The present wall has footings that are too shallow and the construction is not the type that is proper." To provide adequate flood protection for the building, the new retaining wall should include the full 260 feet, he said.

"It only makes sense to do the complete job while we have a construction crew on site replacing the damaged section of the wall," McPherson said, although the costs may be more than originally anticipated.

Both the Board of Selectmen and the Board of Finance have approved a request for a special appropriation to cover the costs of the reconstruction. That figure may change now, McPherson said. The town will wait to see what the construction bids reveal.

"Because both boards approved the earlier request, I thought it would be appropriate to discuss this change," McPherson said. The two boards have agreed that replacement of the full 260-foot section of retaining wall "makes sense," even with the new ruling from FEMA.

A special town meeting has been set for Monday, April 2 at 7 p.m. at the Town Campus for residents to vote on this special appropriation and a second, which is a request for $450,000 for reconstruction of a damaged section of Middle Beach Road, another victim of Irene.

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Costs May Increase to Replace Surf Club Wall

A West Vancouver homeowner has less than a month to remove a fence and retaining wall that extend from their property onto the municipal boulevard and make the street unsafe.

City staff say the encroachments at 3390 Radcliffe Ave. are located too close to the road surface, meaning cars parked along the side of the property jut out into the traffic space, and they also have the effect of privatizing municipal property.

Council agreed, and on Jan. 24 gave the homeowners 30 days to clear up the problem or have city crews do the work for them and send them the bill with the property tax notice.

However, the homeowners say they should have been informed of the problem when they were approved for a development variance permit to build their home in 2004.

As part of that process, a hedge and wooden fence that also extended off the property were removed, yet Brandon J. Smith, the family lawyer, said they weren't told of any problem with the retaining wall and shouldn't be forced to remove it now.

"I think it's defended by law that if there was an obligation on them to excavate or remove that encroachment, then that should have been made clear," he said. "It was not."

The decision for enforcement was made after a neighbour complained about the property.

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A fence too far, says district