Construction site collapse closes roads and forces evacuations

Construction Site Collapse Closes Down Clarendon Boulevard, Residents Evacuated From Apartments: MyFoxDC.com

A construction site collapse on Clarendon Boulevard has left a big traffic mess and has caused an apartment building in Rosslyn to evacuate.

The collapse is due to a support wall giving way, causing cracks in the apartment building.

Residents are in hotels on Monday and officials are not sure for how long.

For the residents who live in the four-story apartment, it was an awful sound and feeling.

“We heard this banging sound. It sounded like somebody was hitting a piece of metal with a crowbar and all the welds just snapped and basically the whole thing starts subsiding,” said resident Will Dickinson.

He ran to his truck parked right next to the construction site.

“I jumped in my truck and I had about 30 seconds to spare and I backed my truck out and the whole thing fell down like 40 feet,” said Dickinson.

Arlington County officials say recent rain might be to blame for the issues of the support wall.

“It's because of the water content in the soil. The past couple of days, we’ve had [lots of] rain and the hydraulic pressure was too much,” said Shahriar Amiri, Arlington County’s Chief Building Official.

There were rumors of a huge crane leaning and even a sinkhole opening up, but officials say that was not the case.

Clark Construction, the developer of the property, immediately took care of the residents and placed them in a hotel across the street.

“We’re doing everything we can for the residents and our highest priority is the safety of the building as well as the residents,” said Brian Abt of Clark Construction.

All day long, crews have been bringing dump truck after dump truck filled with dirt as they attempt to secure the foundation.

Officials believe Clarendon Boulevard will likely be closed Monday night.

It is also likely going to be a day or two before the residents can move back home. Construction crews not only have to secure the land around that building, but they also have to make sure the building was not structurally damaged.

Source: MATT ACKLAND, myfoxdc