By John Dobberstein, Editor
The city will have to spend $500,000 to fix a retaining wall on a section of Liberty Trail that has stability issues and could fail.
The section affected sits between Elm Place and Aspen Avenue. Signs have been installed to announce that section of the trail is closed, although walkers, joggers and bicyclists continue to go around the barricades and utilize it.
An evaluation by McGuire Civil Engineering Services in May found the segmental block retaining wall — which was constructed in 2003 — had “visible signs of distress and potential failure,” with a “pronounced bulge” that developed in one section where blocks dislodged from the earth fill behind them.
The city’s Drainage Advisory Committee considered a request by the city to spend 2018 GO Bond funds to fix the problems, and the committee approved it on a 6-0 vote. The Broken Arrow City Council unanimously agreed with the decision at its Aug. 19 meeting and authorized the funds to be used.
The engineering firm’s evaluation raised concerns that the structure wasn’t constructed to proper standards. The wall is located downslope from the turnpike about 35 feet away, with no evident drainage infrastructure to intercept runoff from the road, the city said.
Runoff appears to flow directly toward the wall, which doesn’t have any weep holes or gravel backfill zone, “which are standard design requirements,” the engineer firm said. The wall is 1,000 linear feet and the height varies from 8 inches to 7.5 feet.
The project would be designed in house. The city’s Director of Engineering and Construction, Charlie Bright, said the project will go out to bid this winter and the trail could open in the spring after construction is complete.
The trail and wall belong to the city, but they sit on Oklahoma Turnpike Authority property. The city said OTA hasn’t expressed any interest in contributing funds toward the project cost. Bright said the new wall and trail will be connected so the trail will hold the new wall up.
Additional measures will be taken to secure the affected section of the trail once the contractor is hired and on site. “There are a lot of unhappy people, which I understand. But it’s not a small wall and not a quick fix,” Bright said.
Chuck McCall says
This and other similar issues with construction activities in and around Broken Arrow certainly gives rise to concerns about how or if the city monitors construction activities. There are some instances where it’s quite obvious that if the city is spending money for inspection of construction, the taxpayers are certainly being short-changed. I would offer the installation and maintenance of soil erosion control measures and the mud being tracked from construction sites onto streets as a couple of examples. Also a neighbor has told me that city employees have told him that the city doesn’t have adequate code enforcement personnel to keep up with activities when he inquired about maintenance of utility easements behind his home and adjacent to the ongoing construction projects near the new Reasor’s off Aspen.