West Kelowna overpass, retaining wall has collapsed.

[ktowndev]

The wall does not hold up the overpass deck. The headlines are indeed misleading, however it is still not a good thing that happened.

What collapsed is the MSE wall ( Mechanically Structured Earth ) These walls are not just concrete panels stacked ontop of eachother vertically, they are tied in with layers of rebar grid extending horizontally and with compacted manufactured fill. Which is tested to a 100% modified density. Also placed directly behind the wall, top to bottom is normally free draining material such as drain rock to allow water to move quickly, and unrestricted from behind the wall, taking any extra pressure loads away from the wall.


ktowndev

[fumbler]

That whole project has looked bush league from the get go. The re-routing, poor lighting and signage...has not
looked - forget looked - it hasn't been done professionally from day one. It's a mess. The engineering is abysmal. Heads should roll on this. This should not have happened.

+1

I do not get why they built up and put a retaining wall around where the mall is going in when it was perfectly flat post tree clearing. Has made me nervous since I saw them doing it. Nevermind how they made the retaining wall that collapsed.

Did anyone happen to notice the giant cracks/valleys that formed in the sandhills in the area during that freak storm in August?

[Symbonite]

I dont know if it was mentioned but what time on Sunday Morning did this happen?

[nepal]

I dont know if it was mentioned but what time on Sunday Morning did this happen?

Somebody in eastern Canada informed me about it at 9:45am our time.

[Bagotricks]

Don't worry, someone at the top got a nice big bonus and will keep it.

[RR24K]

I dont know if it was mentioned but what time on Sunday Morning did this happen?

I first saw the notice on Castanet @ 9:36am, than started this thread.

[eMeM]

My hubby had to go into town this morning. He called me when he arrived at his destination and told me about the collapse. The cops were already on scene when he went by. He called me at 9:05 so it was prior to that.

[watchd0g]

Traffic is backed up to the interchange at the bottom of bridge hill....any bets on when it backs up across the bridge into kelowna? The more things change, the more they stay the same.

[Bestside]

That whole project has looked bush league from the get go. The re-routing, poor lighting and signage...has not
looked - forget looked - it hasn't been done professionally from day one. It's a mess. The engineering is abysmal. Heads should roll on this. This should not have happened.

Exactly... the off-road to the overpass is to close to the main highway...

There is likely a clause in the contract to give WFN another 800 acres if there is a failure that needs to be fixed...

[bob vernon]

An overpass has collapsed?!?! On top of any cars?

Actually, a retaining wall under an overpass has collapsed. But the media, in an effort to sensationalize as much as possible, is talking about an "overpass collapse". Good journalism has went.

[Cumungala]

This doesn't look good. I don't think the entire structure will have to be replaced because of this, but the Nancee Way lights might be put back into service for a bit. I cant see how it would be safe for anybody to cross over the interchange with this wall down.

[Snarf]

Now let's see how quickly they patch this up...

[rotti]

Maybe they will give us back half of the 800 acres of land we swapped.

[grumpydigger]

When something like this happens, all the engineering and construction methods Should be put under review on the complete Protect........... Some engineers signed off on this....

Construction projects are usually designed with a massive amount of overkill And are designed to withstand hundred year event's And disasters....

This looks like it was put together by a child using their Lego

[Treblehook]

When something like this happens, all the engineering and construction methods Should be put under review on the complete Protect........... Some engineers signed off on this....

Construction projects are usually designed with a massive amount of overkill And are designed to withstand hundred year event's And disasters....

This looks like it was put together by a child using their Lego

It looks like ABSOLUTELY no person or organization is immune from negative comment from the critical eye of GD. I have to wonder if this poster has ever made a mistake or been less than 100% on anything. Obviously something went wrong here, but why wouldn't it be prudent to wait until they find out why it failed before condemning the construction outfit as being child like.