Concrete retaining wall for large Coquitlam development collapses; city describes ‘evolving situation’

By Patrick Penner, Tri-Cities Dispatch

The concrete retaining wall for a large construction site close to the Burquitlam SkyTrain station in Metro Vancouver has collapsed.

Footage of the collapse was posted to social media on Nov. 30, and taken by what appears to be construction workers working on site.

Cracking can be heard in the video, which centres on a horizontal fracture across the wall. A stream of dirt trickles through a small hole in the fracture, which eventually bursts as the concrete gives way to an avalanche of construction fill.

The City of Coquitlam has closed Foster Avenue between North Road and Whiting Way for emergency work, citing safety reasons.

A traffic bulletin released by the city shortly after the incident stated construction noise would continue throughout the night. The road is scheduled to reopen on Dec. 1, but the city said ongoing work might be needed.

A spokesperson for the City of Coquitlam described the incident as an “evolving situation,” and stated they will be releasing a statement shortly.

Watch the video

@cbcvancouver A shoring wall at a Coquitlam construction site came tumbling down Wednesday afternoon, as shown in a video posted on Reddit. Stepan Vdovine, vice-president of real estate development firm Amacon, said the northern section of the shoring retention wall failed, resulting in soil collapsing into the site. The cause of the failure is under investigation. To read more, visit cbc.ca/bc. #construction #collapse #safety #wall #concrete #coquitlam #bc #britishcolumbia #cbc #cbcnews #reddit #soil #investigation ♬ Ambient music ambient music(1187811) – Ambient World