West Kelowna overpass, retaining wall has collapsed.

[Fancy]

Probably because more work is going to be done in the area.
http://www.westsideroadinterchange.ca/

[southernfrau]

I heard that the new underpass they are building is on hold. Seems the wall needed for the sides of it is unavailable. They have to shop around to find someone to build them the blocks. Not allowed to use the same supplier that supplied the ones that failed on the overpass.

[Bananaz]

So whatever else needs to be done has been put on hold?

[Dash5]

I would imagine that once the Nancee Way underpass is completed and the highway straightened back out again the entire work zone will likely be paved from one end to the other and everything cleaned up. Could be wrong but that'd be my guess.

It didn't look like there was much going on for quite a while but I have noticed that they are now excavating for the underpass on the east side of the highway so hopefully they are moving forward now.

What I can't believe is that they aren't running 3 lanes all the way up to Horizon/Boucherie. Looks like it's going to be 3 lanes up the hill and to just past the Westside Rd overpass dropping down to 2 lanes just before the merge lane coming down from Westside Rd joins the hwy. So the outside lane merges into the center lane and then almost immediately traffic coming down from Westside Rd merges in as well. Sounds like a new afternoon bottleneck in the works to me.

http://www.westsideroadinterchange.ca/interchange%20traffic%20patterns.jpg

[Ari Gold]

How about letting the public/taxpayers know what happedned to cause the collapse?

What a joke...major multi-million dollar failure just swept under the rug

[kay-c]

They already said what it was. It was the steel that tied the wall back and anchored it.Now they have to wait for forever for the new and improved steel to be made. Notice there are foundations with no walls going on them yet. same system,better steel.

[Ari Gold]

They already said what it was. It was the steel that tied the wall back and anchored it.Now they have to wait for forever for the new and improved steel to be made. Notice there are foundations with no walls going on them yet. same system,better steel.

When did they say this? I'm on Castanet everyday, but maybe I missed it. I do not recall a news release...only comments here on the Castanet forum

last I heard they were still "investigating"

[Ari Gold]

There was a news release that identified "embrittlement at the bends in certain steel reinforcement bars", but the investigation into the failure was continuing. ie) what caused the embrittlement, and more importantly, who is to blame: contractor or supplier?

The Province engaged Buckland and Taylor Ltd., an internationally-renowned bridge engineering firm, to investigate the cause. Their testing of materials from the site has determined embrittlement at the bends in certain steel reinforcement bars connecting the concrete facing panels was a contributing factor in the collapse.

The investigation is not over however, and research into the failure is continuing. A detailed geotechnical analysis is still to come along with further materials testing, analysis of soil settlement, mapping of the failure areas and analysis of findings from taking apart the opposite wall to learn about other factors that may have contributed to the collapse.

http://www.castanet.net/edition/news-story--101-.htm

[mis1841]

[/quote]What I can't believe is that they aren't running 3 lanes all the way up to Horizon/Boucherie. Looks like it's going to be 3 lanes up the hill and to just past the Westside Rd overpass dropping down to 2 lanes just before the merge lane coming down from Westside Rd joins the hwy. So the outside lane merges into the center lane and then almost immediately traffic coming down from Westside Rd merges in as well. Sounds like a new afternoon bottleneck in the works to me.[/quote]

I know what you mean here- i think that going from virtually 4 lanes to 2 in 40' is completely dangerous. I cant believe that it was left this way and that its not just 3 lanes to horizon! I am sure some accidents must have happened from this.

[Ari Gold]

It's been a year since the overpass retaining wall collapsed. All the public has been told was there was an issue with the steel anchors that tied the wall back.

Who is responsible for the failure? Why hasn't the public been told?

[graham2007]

Thats cause it wasnt really the fault of the material, but they dont want us to know that. Its typical these days pass the buck its not the contractors fault for lousy workmanship or cutting corners or costs. Is it not ironic that they use these all over North America and this is the first failure or supposed failure..

[Ari Gold]

That's exactly it, Graham. That wall could have killed someone and nobody has been idenfied as the responsible party.

This project was funded with our tax dollars and someone screwed up big time! We deserve to know the whole story. We certainly shouldn't let it just pass without a full explanation. The lack of communication is suspicious

[GoStumpy]

Or we could move forward with our lives, but hey, that's just my opinion

We deserve to know the whole story.

Not really... That is between the contractor, the insurance company, and the city... In no way does the public need to know.

[kumazatheef]

That wall could have killed someone and nobody has been idenfied as the responsible party.

I'm more scared of the people driving along that stretch of road than the wall itself.

[dodgerdodge]

When are they going to finish this disaster? The road has been ripped up both sides ready for re laying but so far no sign of new blacktop so we are all reduced to an almost stop as people negotiate the bumps. What about the tarmac that is freshly laid just before and after the new section of underpass it looks like someone failed to get it the right height then there is a strip on top as if it was redone and i assume it still needs doing again otherwise it is a very poor job.