Massive Highway Retaining Wall Fails in New York City
A massive stone retaining wall adjacent to the Henry Hudson Parkway in New York City, just north of the George Washington Bridge, failed spectacularly on the afternoon of May 12. No injuries were reported, although an unknown number of parked cars were buried and nearby buildings evacuated as a precaution. Witnesses said the failure of a 150-ft-long, 75-ft-high section of the 1,000-ft-long, privately owned wall occurred in two stages, resulting in landslides about 10 minutes apart. The first slide covered an access road and the parked cars with boulders and soil, and the second sent an avalanche cascading across the three northbound lanes of the parkway itself. The collapse happened during clear, dry weather.
In a May 13 press conference, Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R) said emergency crews plan to stabilize the site by reducing the angle on slope and covering it with plastic sheeting to control erosion. He said the northbound lanes should reopen to traffic by early in the week of May 15.