News

Contractor had no permit for retaining wall job, county says

Th retaining wall that collapsed is shown after emergency workers cleared the scene.

By Lightning Reports, Published: January 13, 2021

The contractor that was working on a retaining wall that collapsed on Wednesday, killing one worker and injuring three others, did not pull a building permit for the job, Henderson County Attorney Russ Burrell said in a statement.

Responding to numerous requests from the news media about the subject, Burrell said the job would have required a permit.

"As a general rule, both the new construction and the repair of retaining walls over 4 feet in height require an engineered design, and a permit granted by the County Inspections Department based on that design," Burrell said. "The county did not receive an application or issue a permit for this project.  ... Henderson County staff is investigating this tragedy at this time, and has no additional information."

Firefighters, police and Labor Department investigators are all looking into the cause of the block wall collapse. The wall, 10 to 12 feet tall and 100 to 150 feet long, "basically fell over," Hendersonville Fire Chief James Miller said. "There didn't appear to be any tiebacks of any sort. ... It appeared they were all working in one area when the wall came down. We were told they were working in the trench area (pouring concrete) just at the base of the wall between the asphalt parking lot and the block wall."