Zig Zag Road has been reopened to traffic once again, after the road was closed on Friday night through fears of a landslide.
Isle of Wight police closed the road after they were alerted to what was thought to be a landslide. In fact, it was nothing of the sort.
“Blown out of proportion”
The owner of a property on Zig Zag Road (who wishes to remain anonymous) spoke to News OnTheWight this week expressing his view that the situation had been blown out of proportion.
He explained that on 4th January, their 20 foot retaining wall in the back garden of the property collapsed. This created a lot of rubble and spoil at the back of the property – with none spilling onto or affecting the road.
Images above show the rocks piled up ready to be reused
Immediately assessed by structural engineers
The following day, well known Isle of Wight structural engineers assessed the situation and told the homeowner that it looked worse than it was, but that the wall had failed because of the heavy rain the Island has seen over the past four or five months.
They were advised to wait one month before starting any work. At that point around ten tons of debris was cleared, but due to the “never-ending rain” work was halted. The home owners were advised to leave as much of the spoil in the bank as possible to help reinforce it.
Situation sensationalised
The homeowner expressed to News OnTheWight his dismay that some Island media had sensationalised the situation, showing aerial photos of piles of rocks on the decking behind the property.
The homeowner explained that these had been specifically gathered there to be reused when the work to rebuild the wall could continue.
No landslip confirmed
He added that the constant rain and runoff of water had resulted in some of the material being pushed down, but that several structural engineers had visited the site (including council officers) and confirmed there was no evidence of a landslip taking place across the back of the property – it was simply a retaining wall failure.
The homeowner added that they had groundwork engineers working on the property for a week, with no concerns raised by anyone in the vicinity. He believed that perhaps someone saw the rocks from the road on Friday and called it in to the police/council.
Residents can be reassured that despite the recent landslide in Bonchurch and boulder fall in lower Gills Cliff Road, this incident is confirmed as not being a landslide.
