The City of Courtenay sent a letter to a resident saying there is a risk of death because of a faulty retaining wall along the Courtenay River.
In a letter received Dec. 14, resident Leanne Lawson was alerted by the City of Courtenay that the retaining wall under her apartment building may fail. The letter said failure may occur suddenly and without warning, and could lead to fatalities.
“We advise you: the Retaining Wall is now at risk of partial or full failure. If the Retaining Wall fails, it has the potential for: damage to and loss of personal property; damage to and failure of physical infrastructure, buildings utility services and structures; injury to persons; and death.”
Sudden failure could be caused by a flood or “seismic event,” according to the letter.
Lawson lives in the Anderton Arms apartment building, located in the “area of greatest risk” for failure laid out in the city’s warning.
As reported last week, the City has been monitoring the retaining wall since repairs were made in 2016, due to ongoing complaints from citizens.
The failing infrastructure has been on the city’s radar for more than 40 years.
“The riverbank was originally stabilized with a timber log retaining wall,” said City of Courtenay director of engineering services, Chris Davidson, in an emailed response to questions. “The log wall started to fail, and the city replaced it in 1978-1980 with the pre-cast concrete wall, and sheet pile. Installation of the concrete wall required excavation behind the log wall. The buildings located at 440 Anderton and 426 Anderton were close to the river, and there wasn’t space to excavate. To accommodate the structures, a sheet pile design was used instead.”
Lawson said the news about her building is all she can think about.
“I have to worry about my building collapsing while I’m sleeping?” she said. “I haven’t had anybody come to talk to me. I’m basically sitting here not knowing anything that’s going on.”
The City of Courtenay will communicate as information becomes available, the letter wrote. Staff are working to determine the best path forward for properties in the area.
“Couldn’t you have done something over the past five years?” Lawton questions. “This is why we rely on public representatives to do their job. Any type of councillors, engineers involved in city planning… they put all that money into bicycle lanes, you think they’d put the energy in to fix a retaining wall.”
Walking to her car, Lawson eyes a new sign erected on the lawn, which reads “WARNING! RISK OF FAILURE UNSTABLE RETAINING WALL”
Another resident in Anderton Arms is not as concerned about the failure.
Wayne Wilson said he has been living in the apartment for 23 years. He has seen the retaining wall shift over time, and isn’t convinced that it’ll be a matter of life and death any time soon.
“I’m not worried about it too much,” said Wilson. “In 23 years the space between the lawn and the wall has sunk about eight inches.”
When the Courtenay River floods, he said, water has gone over the other riverbank, into Lewis Park.
While Wilson is unbothered by the letter, his neighbour, Lawson, is in a different position.
“It has taken me from the beginning of the pandemic until now to get some stability in my life,” she said. “And now I don’t know what I would do… what I would do if I lost my home.”
