An engineering assessment has allowed residents of an apartment building at Oak Bay Avenue and Fort Street to return home following the collapse of a retaining wall Tuesday morning.
One lane of traffic has been opened to eastbound traffic, heading towards Oak Bay. All traffic should be moving once again by the end of the day Wednesday as the rest of the debris is expected to be cleared from the road and sidewalk. However the sidewalk will remain closed for several weeks for monitoring and assessment.
Victoria's Director of Engineering and Public Works, Fraser Work, says the cause of the collapse is still undetermined. He notes parts of the wall are over a century old and have been added to. The city is also looking into a private inspection report done for the property owner 2 years ago:
"We're aware that a report was completed in 2015 and that the wall was deemed safe, and there was a couple of recommendations about what not to do on top of that wall, and some of the loading conditions. And we're looking a little bit more deeper now to see what did that tell the property owner, and we'll work with the property owner to make that area is returned to safe conditions and engineering prudence going forward."
Work says a much higher portion of the wall remains intact and although it's not expected to fail, it's been cordoned off as a precaution.