![]() ![]() For every foot in height, about 30 to 50 pounds of pressure per square foot is exerted on the wall. The taller the wall, the more load it must support, and therefore the thicker the wall and footing must be. Retaining walls are typically made of concrete, masonry, or sometimes wood. In addition, when the vegetation dies and decomposes, it creates a void in the wall, allowing more water to enter. ![]() Not only does plant growth draw moisture to the wall, which can corrode underlying supporting steel, it displaces masonry and concrete as it grows, causes cracking. ![]() Vegetation is a particular problem for retaining walls. Cracks allow more water to penetrate the wall, creating additional cracks and causing the wall to bulge, shift, and potentially collapse. Retaining walls are constantly exposed to soil and moisture, and the same freeze/thaw cycle that causes masonry on a facade to crack, spall, loosen, and eventually fall also afflicts retaining walls. (The DOB offers an annual no-penalty inspection program for retaining walls. Property owners with unsafe retaining walls, such as your cooperative, are issued an ECB violation and face fines of up to $1,200. Similar to FISP, owners must file an inspection report with the Department of Buildings stating the retaining wall condition as safe, unsafe, or safe with repair and/or engineering monitoring. Less well known is Local Law 37/08, which requires owners with retaining walls 10 feet or taller that front a public right of way to have those walls inspected by a design professional every five years to ensure they are maintained in a safe condition. Most New York City property owners and managers are familiar with Local Law 11/98 (now called the Facade Inspection & Safety Program, or FISP), which requires buildings taller than six stories to have their facades inspected for unsafe conditions every five years. Over time, these walls can deteriorate from repeated seasonal changes and a lack of maintenance, compromising the stability of the wall and posing a safety risk. Retaining walls are designed to hold back soil that would otherwise shift along a natural slope or incline if the wall were not in place. In 2005, a 75-foot-high, 150-foot-long section of a retaining wall at Castle Village co-op collapsed onto the Henry Hudson Parkway. What is the recommended course of action given the wall's condition, especially now that we're facing an ECB violation? But water sometimes seeps through cracks in the wall even when it hasn't been raining. A parking lot adjacent to the wall has had drainage problems over the years, especially after heavy rains, which we suspect may have contributed to the wall's deterioration. The wall, made of stone with a stucco finish, is approximately 15 feet high and about three feet thick. In addition, several posts holding a chain link fence on top of the wall are loose. Our Hudson Heights cooperative recently received an Environmental Control Board violation for our retaining wall, which has multiple cracks, some with vegetation sprouting out, and is crumbling in spots.
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