Nov 12, 2014 3 min read

ROGERSVILLE – At many of its meetings during the past year, West Greene School Board addressed issues regarding the design and construction of the retaining wall that was being built as part of the new elementary school project.

Its concerns were apparently warranted.

The wall, which runs behind the new elementary center, partially collapsed last Thursday night, district Superintendent Thelma Szarell said.

The district noticed cracks and separations in the wall for the last several weeks, she said.

The board met last Thursday night partly to discuss the matter with representatives of the project architect, The Hayes Design Group, and the construction manager, URS Corp., she said.

“Sometime through the night, it collapsed,” she said.

The district is now trying to determine what caused the wall to collapse, Szarell said. It doesn’t appear soil behind the wall moved, which was one of the district’s earlier concerns, but the wall seems to have failed at its base, she said.

Engineers do not believe the wall will collapse any further.

“It doesn’t appear to be any danger to the new school,” Szarell said.

The new three-story elementary center was constructed in an area that required excavation of a large hillside. According to an early design drawing, the wall stretches 761 feet behind the new building and at its highest point reaches 31 feet.

The district will probably hire an independent engineer to investigate the wall’s collapse and develop a plan to correct the problem, Szarell said.

Though the new elementary building is almost completed, the district is planning not to begin using it for classes until next school year.

At past meetings, the board took action in regard to several issues concerning the wall, including addressing the issue of gray clay in soil behind the wall and the installation of drains beneath the wall’s diversion channel.

In April, the board also hired an independent engineer to review the design of the wall to ensure the wall would be adequate for conditions at the site.

“From the beginning, we’ve been trying to makes sure everything has been carried out correctly,” Szarell said. That is why the board asked for additional testing and took the other steps it did to make sure everything was right, she said. “We feel we have done our due diligence.”

The collapse of the wall is expected to lead to litigation, Szarell said. The district does not believe it should pay for repairing the wall “under any circumstances,” she said.