Professor believes rain caused huge wall collapse
A UNIVERSITY professor believes recent wet weather would have led to the collapse of a huge brick in Nottingham.
Emergency services evacuated five families from four separate properties in Spalding Road and Windmill Lane, Sneinton, on Wednesday after a 70-foot wall fell down.
Nottinghamshire Police said no-one was injured but some homes were left severely damaged.
David Large, a University of Nottingham professor in the Faculty of Engineering, said he believed it was likely to be down to recent weather.
He said: “I looked at the pictures and thought the wall has failed. Of this scale, it is quite uncommon.
“There’s been a lot of rain recently, the soils have been quite wet and that would increase the force in the wall.
“If the wall was heading towards a point where it might collapse, it could just tip over.
Over time a wall will gradually start to bulge or tilt. It will be subtle and, at some point, it will reach a critical stage.
“The rockface doesn’t seem to have moved that much, it seemed to be the soil between the rocks and the wall that’s moved.
“I would imagine that extra bit of rain recently has caused this particular section of wall to fall.”
A city council spokesperson said: “This was an awful incident where everyone is relieved there have been no injuries.
“We are now focused on assessing the condition of the affected gardens and properties and making the area safe before turning our attention to the clear-up work.”