The walls officially began tumbling down Tuesday. On that day, contractors began a project to replace a portion of the existing retaining walls and completely remove the rest of the existing retaining walls at Compton Park.

 

“They’re removing all of the retaining wall that is standing just before where the existing bathroom is,” said Bridgeport Parks and Recreation Director Don Burton. “They’re also beginning to do the work on sloping the ground where the retaining walls won’t be replaced.”

 

The walls in question are decades old. Burton said they were done when the park was originally put into the city’s rotation of recreational venues.

 

Now, most of the long-time walls won’t be put back as the ground, instead, will be gently sloped. The bulk of the sloping for the area around the basketball court furthest away from the roadway was already in place. Additional sloping will be done as the project moves forward.

 

The replacement and removal of the walls became necessary as one portion of the wall – near the public restrooms, was just inches away from hitting the restroom. Burton and City Engineer Tom Brown both said it was just a matter of time before the wall would hit into the restrooms.

Once contractors began removing the walls, Burton said he and former Bridgeport Public Works Director Dale Shields – hired as the project manager for this job – noticed the reason for the ongoing slip that forced the wall to move. And he said it’s not surprising.

 

“What we noticed is that there is a clay seam there and the earth on top of the clay seems to clearly be pushing the wall forward for the last several decades, which is leading to its failing,” said  Burton. “This is very typical when you see land or rock slides in other areas because the water can’t penetrate the clay so whatever is on top of it moves. In this case, the earth on top is moving and pushed the retaining wall forward.”

 

Burton said the project will likely last up to three more weeks. At the same time, the city is currently working on the storm drainage/sewer line project at the park. Heavy equipment can be seen throughout the recreational facility.

 

“The park is still open, but we’re advising caution to those who use it,” said Burton. “We hope to have everything looking normal by the time school is out.”

 

Charleston-based Aztec, Inc. is the contractor on the project. The project was bid in two parts and approved by City Council. The first bid was to construct a new retaining wall behind the restroom covering roughly 70 linear feet costing $42,320. The second part of the project involves the remaining 300 linear feet of retaining wall at the park that is being removed and sloped. That work is costing the city $39,630 for a total project cost of $81,940. 

 

Editor's Note: Work is being done by Aztec, Inc. in the top photo, while Project Manager Dale Shields, left, and P&R Director Don Burton look at the clay seam that was exposed in the bottom photo.