A geotechnical assessment will be performed today after a 12-metre section of a retaining wall in the 2100 block of Daniel Street in Trail collapsed.
The city says the failure happened Saturday and is blocking traffic on lower Daniel Street. There were no reports of injury or damage to private property.
“We think some rain infiltrated the backside of the wall and it saturated and collapsed in that little section,” public works director Chris McIsaac says.
“This is not one of those historical dry stack rock walls. It was a repaired section with mortar in between the rock. It looks like we just didn’t have a place for the water to drain out. Some hydraulic pressure built up and this little wall fell down. It doesn’t happen often.”
City crews are installing sandbags to divert surface water and barriers to prevent any further debris from falling. The city is asking people to avoid the area and follow the no parking signs as parking too close to the wall poses a risk.
McIsaac says the geotechnical engineer should give them some ideas on how to repair the section and improve its drainage.