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Collapsed sidewalk cordoned off, bank stablized

One lane opened to traffic on Johnson Street deemed safe
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A sidewalk on Johnson Street remains cordoned off after it collapsed into a construction site last week. (Ragnar Haagen/BLACK PRESS)

The bank along a construction site at the intersection of Johnson and Cook streets is stabilized after a sidewalk collapsed last week.

A City geotechnical engineer is working with the site’s developer to find out exactly what happened and how to move forward after earth, trees, hydro infrastructure, and 30 metres of sidewalk fell into an excavated hole. Workers had sprayed shotcrete and put soil anchors into the bank to support it during excavation of the former parking lot and future site of The Wade, a joint project between Amadon Group, Tenfold Projects and Fortress developers. The exact cause of the collapse is still being investigated.

According to the city’s assistant director of transportation Brad Delleburr, the bank is now stable after the contractor filled the area against the wall.

“They did a bunch of work on the weekend to ensure [the area] was safe for the public and safe on the site,” he said. “The geotechnical engineer on site was monitoring the excavation over the weekend to see if there was any further signs of movement. It stabilized.”

RELATED: Sidewalk sinkhole and ruptured water main in Victoria

The City is taking precautions, however, and the sidewalk and one lane will remain closed off for now. The geotechnical engineer has determined the second lane is far enough away from site to allow traffic to continue driving on the second lane on Johnson Street, said Delleburr.

This is the second significant collapse in a month after a retaining wall collapsed on Oak Bay Avenue near Fort Street but Delleburr said the incidents are unrelated.

“It’s two different situations. It’s not something that you could say ‘this happened, so this happened.’ It’s just not comparing apples to apples,” he said.

When asked if these incidents represent a larger problem with Victoria’s infrastructure, he responded: “there is nothing to suggest that’s the case, no.”

The City did not indicate a timeframe for when the road and sidewalk will reopen.

- With files from Keri Coles

lauren.boothby@vicnews.com

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Crews continue excavating the site where a sidewalk collapsed on Johnson Street last week. (Ragnar Haagen/BLACK PRESS)