The retaining wall of an under-construction Coquitlam highrise caved in on Wednesday afternoon (Nov. 29), spilling dirt into the excavated site.
Video posted to social media shows the concrete retention wall slowly cracking, before bursting open and pouring out earth.
Vancouver-based developer Amacon confirmed with Black Press Media the failure occurred at their construction site at 500 Foster Avenue late on Wednesday afternoon. Company Vice President Stepan Vdovine said the collapse also left a cavity in the soil in the area adjacent to the property.
He said no one was injured and that the cause of incident is under investigation.
“All work on site had attained the required permits, and thoroughly vetted and monitored by the geotechnical and engineering consultants.”
The address is set to be the site of a 44-storey mixed-use residential tower.
A WorkSafeBC spokesperson told Black Press Media that officers have attended the scene and are “monitoring the site and remain in contact with the site supervisors.” The spokeperson added WorkSafeBC doesn’t have any further information to share at this time.
Vdovine said the 500-block of Foster Avenue is closed to traffic and pedestrians while they continue to assess the scene.
In a post to X, the City of Coquitlam said Thursday that emergency work is underway and crews will continue to work throughout the night.
Coquitlam RCMP Corp. Alexa Hodgins said that police have seen the video but haven’t received any calls to attend. She said police will typically only get called to a work site if there’s something criminal involved or if there are other safety concerns, such as a road collapse.
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