NJDOT rejected warnings about the collapse of New Jersey’s I-295 wall in 2021, a CBS Philadelphia investigation found

BELLMAWR, NJ (CBS) – If you’ve driven from Philadelphia to the coast or come into town from New Jersey in the last five years, you’ve probably driven past a retaining wall known as Wall 22 Main part of the I-295 Direct Connect project. But continue March 25, 2021, Wall 22 failed.

The wall supported an elevated highway that had not yet been opened to traffic. Fortunatly nobody was hurt.

In January 2022 a The investigative technical report explained the complex causes from the failure of the wall. Beginning on March 11, two weeks before the failure, the first signs of distress at the Wall were noted. Our investigation revealed that the contractors had concerns prior to the collapse.

Even three years later, Patti Munz can still remember exactly where she stood on the morning of March 25, 2021.

“I was standing at my front door and heard it,” Munz said. “I see all the (New Jersey Department of Transportation) workers right there and I walk over. I’m like, ‘What’s going on?’ They say: ‘The wall has collapsed.'”

The wall workers were referring to that had just collapsed was identified in construction documents as “Wall 22,” a retaining wall designed to support a future roadway and part of the I-295 Direct Connect project.

Munz, who watched the roughly nine months of construction of Wall 22 from her home, was unaware that around the same time Thursday morning, a flurry of emails were sent between NJDOT employees discussing the failure .

In one email, an NJDOT employee sent a colleague, who was then a regional civil engineer, a November 2018 email thread in which the project’s contractor, South State Inc., expressed concerns about the wall’s design.

The regional civil engineer wrote back: “Reading the claim is almost like holding a crystal ball.”

This email was obtained as part of a two-year investigation by CBS News Philadelphia examining why Wall 22 failed and whether it could have been prevented. In its investigation, CBS News Philadelphia found that NJDOT brushed aside years of warnings from South State Inc. about Wall 22 until it was too late.

NJDOT said demolishing Wall 22 and building a new wall will cost taxpayers an additional $92 million, with $74 million coming from the federal government.

The investigation required obtaining and reviewing over 2,000 pages of internal emails, meeting minutes and contract memos, as well as multiple interviews with neighbors who live and work near the site, engineering experts and a state legislator.

NJDOT declined CBS News Philadelphia’s multiple interview requests and only provided a written statement. The engineering firm that designed the wall, the contractor that oversaw the wall’s construction and its subcontractors either declined interview requests, did not respond to calls and emails seeking comment, or referred CBS News Philadelphia to NJDOT for comment.

“Human weaknesses”

The I-295 Direct Connect project is located in Bellmawr at the intersection of I-295, I-76 and Route 42.

The multi-billion dollar project, designed to reduce traffic congestion and improve safety, was split into four contracts and is currently midway through the third contract.

Wall 22 is one of 22 retaining walls being built as part of the project. At the time of its failure, Wall 22 supported an elevated highway that had not yet been opened to traffic.

The Church of the Annunciation at St. Joachim Parish in Bellmawr overlooks the construction site.

Retired priest Kenneth Hallahan, who helps at the church, recalled how he and churchgoers reacted to the wall collapse.

“In general, there are a lot of jokes about engineers, about planning and about human weaknesses,” Hallahan said.

For Rep. Bill Moen Jr., this was no joke.

“We know this will have an impact on the community and we will be there to make sure we provide the public with answers from the Department of Transportation,” Moen said. “If necessary, we will demand these answers.”

I-11

Some answers to the question of why Wall 22 collapsed were published in a January 2022 forensic technical report.

The report, commissioned by NJDOT and submitted by engineering firm Hardesty & Hanover, described the collapse as “complex” and listed four factors that led to the wall’s failure: The column-supported embankment system did not provide a suitable, safe foundation; The area had high groundwater conditions, which was made worse by heavy rains the day before the collapse.

But first on the list, the report states, “The I-11 sand material used for the embankment and slope was not an appropriate material to support a 30-foot retaining wall.”

What the report doesn’t mention, however, and what CBS News Philadelphia found in its investigation, is a November 2018 contract notice that the project’s contractor, South State Inc., submitted to NJDOT.

In it, South State wrote that the contractor had repeatedly expressed “serious concerns” about placing I-11 sand under Wall 22 since December 2017, more than three years before the wall collapsed, calling the use a “mistake.” .

But South State said the department dismissed its concerns.

The contractor attached emails from late October 2018 indicating that at one point NJDOT was willing to switch to a different material but changed its mind after discovering, among other things, that revising the working drawing would cost $70,000 would cost.

South State warned NJDOT: “It expressly assumes the entire risk of any potential damage (direct, consequential or otherwise) of any kind should the design fail.”

Grady Hillhouse is a licensed engineer and author best known for his popular online video series “Practical Engineering,” which has more than 3.5 million subscribers, according to YouTube. In a video about retaining wall failure two years ago, he talked about the collapse of Wall 22.

CBS News Philadelphia asked Hillhouse to review the documents he received.

“For me, that was one of the most surprising parts of this whole story,” Hillhouse said. “It’s a big deal for a contractor to put this in writing and document that they have serious concerns about the design from the start.”

NJDOT responded to South State’s November 2018 contract notice a few days later.

It said using I-11 was not a mistake, adding that unless South State wanted to pay out of pocket to use a different material, South State should proceed with I-11.

“All you see all the time is the DOT dismissing these concerns,” Hillhouse said. “If you have a contractor who puts concerns in writing and documents them, you should pay attention.

Early signs of stress

The construction of Wall 22 began at the end of 2018 and ended in August 2019.

During this time, South State reported several problems at the site, including soil loss and sinkholes behind the wall.

According to the forensic report, cracks or “lateral deformations” began to appear on the road surface on March 11, 2021.

On March 23, a downward movement of the ground was noted.

Heavy rain fell on March 24, and then at 7:59 a.m. on March 25, an NJDOT project engineer sent an email: “Wall 22 failed overnight.”

About half an hour later, an NJDOT engineer forwarded an email thread containing the original November 2018 contract notice to a colleague. This colleague replied: “Reading the claim is almost like holding a crystal ball.”

CBS News Philadelphia presented these documents to Moen, who was closely following the project’s progress.

“I would say at this point it’s probably more of a question for the Department of Transportation to answer,” Moen said. “I’d actually be interested to hear what they have to say about it.”

NJDOT declined multiple requests for an on-camera interview. Instead, a statement was released that said, in part: “The structure beneath the roadway gave way because there was too much rain and changing groundwater conditions, affecting the foundation on which the wall rested. The material supporting the wall did not behave as expected.”

South State and its subcontractors either did not respond or declined CBS News Philadelphia’s repeated interview requests, and the project’s engineer, Dewberry, who designed the embankment using the I-11 material, referred CBS News Philadelphia to NJDOT.

Biblical lessons

Wall 22 is currently being remodeled and will use a different design, according to NJDOT.

“It will be a cast-in-place reinforced concrete wall with steel H-piles and drilled shaft deep foundations and a shallower grade,” NJDOT wrote in its statement. “Additional drainage will also be incorporated into the design.”

NJDOT said the current construction contract, which includes Wall 22, will not be completed until 2028.

Homeowners who live near the project, including Munz and Linda Mitcham, didn’t hesitate to share their thoughts on the CBS News Philadelphia investigation.

“It just makes me so angry,” Munz said. “Why wouldn’t (NJDOT) just listen?”

“I think they should have been a little more careful about something like that,” Mitcham said. “They were lucky no one got hurt.”

Hallahan, the retired priest, said people can find almost anything they want in the Bible, including a lesson related to Wall 22.

“You sow the wind. You reap the whirlwind. So if you cut corners here, there will be a hurricane down there,” Hallahan said. “So it’s probably wise to use the highest quality materials and make the best decision possible.”