On Friday, Dec. 15, the City of Courtenay issued a public warning about the potential risk of failure to the Anderton Avenue retaining wall located along the west side of the Courtenay River, parallel to the 400-block of Anderton Avenue.

RELATED: City of Courtenay serves notice of potential retaining wall failure

According to the original press release, the city has been closely monitoring the Anderton Avenue retaining wall following a repair in 2016. The wall is made up of two sections 鈥� a 50-metre sheet pile section and a 210-metre concrete section. Monitoring has detected movement of the sheet pile wall, which indicates a risk of partial or total failure.

Failure may be a gradual slide toward the river, or a rapid collapse caused by a flood or seismic event. The risk of failure is much lower behind the concrete section of the wall, along Riverside Park.

The Record reached out to the city for further details regarding the origins of the issue, and where the liability lies.

According to the City of Courtenay director of engineering services, Chris Davidson, the wall has been an ongoing issue for more than 40 years.

鈥淭he riverbank was originally stabilized with a timber log retaining wall,鈥� he said in an emailed response to questions. 鈥淭he 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鈥檛 space to excavate. To accommodate the structures, a sheet pile design was used instead.鈥�

The area further down, along Riverside Park, was excavated to accommodate a concrete section. According to the city鈥檚 original statement, 鈥渢he risk of failure is much lower behind the concrete section of the wall, along Riverside Park.鈥�

鈥淏oth the concrete and sheet pile have been eroded by the river, but the concrete section has been more durable so far,鈥� added Davidson.

Complaints from citizens started some 25 years ago.

鈥淭he city has been responding to concerns from residents since 1998,鈥� said Davidson.

In 2016, the city proceeded with repairs, in response to 鈥渞esident concerns about cracking and shifting.

鈥淭he rip rap buttress was needed to stabilize the structure, and prevent further deterioration of the retaining wall.鈥�

The city contracted McElhanney to design a further repair, with Edgett completing the construction.

Davidson said the 2016 repair was considered 鈥渁 temporary fix only鈥� and that the repair 鈥渉as extended the life of the structure and paused movement, until recently.鈥�

The city is the registered owner of the retaining wall structure and as such, the city assumes all liability.

鈥淭his notification is a proactive measure to make property owners and residents aware of the condition of the Anderton Avenue retaining wall,鈥� added Courtenay Mayor Bob Wells, in the original press release. 鈥淲e recognize that this information may be concerning, especially among impacted residents,鈥� said Mayor Bob Wells. 鈥淭he city is completing additional structural inspections, and is actively working to determine a path forward for the impacted properties. We are committed to ongoing communication about this sensitive matter.鈥�

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