NJDOT rejected warnings before 2021 I-295 wall collapse in New Jersey, CBS Philadelphia investigation finds
BELLMAWR, N.J. (CBS) -- If you've driven to the shore from Philadelphia or come into the city from New Jersey in the past five years, you've probably driven past a retaining wall, known as Wall 22, as it's a major part of the I-295 Direct Connect Project. But on March 25, 2021, Wall 22 failed.
The wall held up an elevated roadway that had yet to open to traffic. Thankfully, no one was injured.
In January 2022, an investigative engineering report detailed the complex causes of the wall's failure. It found early signs of distress on the wall beginning on March 11, two weeks before its failure. Our investigation found contractors had concerns years before it collapsed.
Even three years later, Patti Munz can easily remember exactly where she was standing on the morning of March 25, 2021.
"I was standing at my front door, and I heard it," Munz said. "I see all the [New Jersey Department of Transportation] workers right there, and I go walking over. I'm like, 'What's going on?' They're like, 'The wall collapsed.'"
The wall the workers were referring to that had just collapsed was identified in construction documents as "Wall 22," a retaining wall designed to hold up a future roadway that's part of the I-295 Direct Connect Project.
Munz, who watched the roughly nine-month construction of Wall 22 from her house, did not realize that around the same time that Thursday morning, a flurry of emails was being sent between NJDOT workers discussing the failure.
In one email, an NJDOT employee sent a co-worker, who, at the time, was a regional construction engineer, an email thread from November 2018, in which, the project's contractor, South State Inc., expressed concerns about the wall's design.
The regional construction engineer wrote back, "Reading the claim, it's almost like they had a crystal ball."
That email was obtained in a two-year CBS News Philadelphia investigation into why Wall 22 failed and whether it could've been prevented. Through its investigation, CBS News Philadelphia found NJDOT did not listen to years of warnings from South State Inc. about Wall 22 until it was too late.
NJDOT said demolition of Wall 22 and construction of a new wall will cost taxpayers an additional $92 million with $74 million coming from the federal government.
The investigation required obtaining and reviewing over 2,000 pages of internal emails, meeting minutes and contractual notices, and multiple interviews with neighbors who live and work near the construction site, engineering experts and a state lawmaker.
NJDOT refused CBS News Philadelphia's multiple requests for an interview and only provided a written statement. The engineering firm that designed the wall, the contractor that oversaw the wall's construction, and its sub-contractors, either declined interview requests, didn't respond to calls and emails requesting comment, or referred CBS News Philadelphia to NJDOT for comment.
'Human Foibles'
The I-295 Direct Connect Project is located in Bellmawr at the junction of I-295, I-76 and Route 42.
The billion-dollar project, designed to reduce traffic congestion and improve safety, has been broken into four contracts and is currently in the middle of the third contract.
Wall 22 is one of 22 retaining walls being built on the project. At the time of its failure, Wall 22 supported an elevated roadway that wasn't yet open to traffic.
Saint Joachim Parish Annunciation Church in Bellmawr overlooks the construction site.
Retired priest Kenneth Hallahan, who helps at the church, remembered how he and churchgoers reacted to the wall's collapse.
"In general, a lot of jokes about engineers, about planning and about human foibles," Hallahan said.
It wasn't a joking matter to Assemblyman Bill Moen, Jr.
"We know this is going to impact the community, and we're going to be on this and make sure that we're delivering answers to the public from the Department of Transportation," Moen said. "When we need to, we're demanding those answers."
I-11
Some answers to why Wall 22 collapsed came out in a forensic engineering report dated January 2022.
The report, which was commissioned by NJDOT and submitted by the engineering firm, Hardesty & Hanover, described the collapse as "complex" and listed four factors leading to the wall's failure: the column-supported embankment system did not provide a suitable, safe foundation; the area had a high groundwater condition, which was all made worse by heavy rain the day before the collapse.
But first on the list, according to the report, "The I-11 sand material used for the embankment and slope was not an appropriate material to support a 30-foot high retaining wall."
But what the report does not mention, and what CBS News Philadelphia found through its investigation, is a November 2018 contractual notice submitted by the project's contractor, South State Inc., to NJDOT.
In it, South State wrote that since December 2017, more than three years before the wall's collapse, the contractor repeatedly voiced "grave concerns" about placing I-11 sand below Wall 22, describing its use as an "error."
But South State said the department dismissed its concerns.
The contractor included emails from late October 2018 showing at one point, NJDOT was open to switching to a different material but changed its mind after, among other things, finding out it would cost $70,000 to redo the working drawing.
South State warned NJDOT, "It is specifically assuming all risk of any and all potential damages (direct, consequential or otherwise) of all form should the design fail."
Grady Hillhouse is a licensed engineer and author, best known for his popular online video series "Practical Engineering," which, according to YouTube, has more than 3.5 million subscribers. He talked about the Wall 22 collapse in a video about retaining wall failures two years ago.
CBS News Philadelphia asked Hillhouse to review the documents he obtained.
"To me, that was one of the most surprising parts of this whole story," Hillhouse said. "For a contractor to put it in writing and document that they have severe concerns about the design from the get-go, it's a big deal."
NJDOT responded to South State's November 2018 contractual notice a few days later.
It wrote that the use of I-11 is not an error, and it added that unless South State wanted to pay out of its pocket to use a different material, it should proceed with the I-11.
"If you have a contractor who's putting in writing, documenting concerns, that's something to pay attention to," Hillhouse said.
Early Signs of Distress
Construction began on Wall 22 in late 2018 and finished in August 2019.
During that time, South State reported multiple problems on the site, including soil loss and sinkholes behind the wall.
According to the forensic engineering report, on March 11, 2021, cracks, or "lateral deformation," began surfacing on the roadway pavement.
On March 23, a downward movement of the ground was detected.
Heavy rain fell on March 24, and then on March 25, at 7:59 a.m., an NJDOT project engineer emailed, "Wall 22 failure overnight."
About a half hour later, an NJDOT engineer forwarded an email thread to a co-worker containing the original November 2018 contractual notice. That co-worker responded, "Reading the claim, it's almost like they had a crystal ball."
CBS News Philadelphia presented these documents to Moen, who's been closely tracking the project's progress.
"I would say that at this point, I think this is, it's probably more of a question for the Department of Transportation to answer," Moen said. "I would actually be interested in hearing what they have to say about that."
NJDOT refused multiple requests for an on-camera interview. Instead, it released a statement saying, in part, "the structure under the roadway gave way because of an excessive amount of rain and changed groundwater conditions affecting the foundation on which the wall was supported. The material supporting the wall did not perform as expected."
South State and its subcontractors either did not respond or declined CBS News Philadelphia's repeated requests for interviews, and the engineer for the project, Dewberry, which designed the embankment that contained the I-11 material, referred CBS News Philadelphia to NJDOT.
Biblical Lessons
Wall 22 is currently being rebuilt, and, according to NJDOT, it will utilize a different design.
"It will be a cast-in-place reinforced concrete wall with Steel H-pile and drilled shaft deep foundations and a flatter slope," NJDOT wrote in its statement. "There also will be additional drainage incorporated into the design."
NJDOT said the current construction contract, which includes Wall 22, won't be finished until 2028.
Homeowners living near the project, including Munz and Linda Mitcham, didn't hesitate to share their thoughts on CBS News Philadelphia's investigation.
"That just makes me so mad," Munz said. "Why wouldn't [NJDOT] just listen?"
"I think something like that, they should've been a little more cautious," Mitcham said. "They were fortunate no one did get hurt."
Hallahan, the retired priest, said people can find almost anything they want in the Bible, including a lesson related to Wall 22.
"You sow the wind. You reap the whirlwind, so if you cut corners here, you're going to have a hurricane down there," Hallahan said. "So probably, it's prudent to use the best quality materials and make the best possible decision."