Work is set to start this summer to repair a 300-ft-long section of a 30-ft-high retaining wall that collapsed more than one year ago at a major New Jersey roadbuilding project—the already late-running effort called Direct Connection, which aims to untangle the convoluted interchange of north-south I-295, and east-west 1-76 and state Route 42 in Camden County, near Philadelphia. According to a forensic report made public last month by the NJ Dept. of Transportation only through a state Open Public Records Act request, problems existed in the wall built for a southbound I-295 ramp long before it crumbled in March 2021.
Overall Direct Connection construction began in 2013 and was extended to 2028 from 2024 even before the incident. The project had an original $900-million budget, with some reports now estimating it at $1.1 billion.