Retaining wall gives way under a 17-storey Ankara apartment block, exposing its foundation
A landslide took down the retaining wall of a 17-storey apartment building on a hillside in Ankara's Mamak district, leaving part of its foundation in the open and cracking the streets around it. Turkey's urbanization ministry had the building evacuated until the ground is stabilized.
The building stands on 1805th Street in the Yeşilbayır neighborhood and was built on a slope, according to a Demirören News Agency (DHA) report carried by Hürriyet and Haberler.com on Oct. 30. When the soil slid, the retaining wall failed and left the building's underground wall and foundation exposed. Cracks opened in the roads around it.
Teams from the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change arrived after a tip-off and decided the site needs strengthening work. The building was emptied, and excavators dug around it in a controlled way before ground stabilization began. In an Oct. 29 report published by Son Dakika, İhlas News Agency (İHA) said the plan is to reinforce the ground with piles once the excavation is finished.
None of the reports said how many people lived in the building, how old it is, who designed or built the wall, or what set off the slide. None mentioned injuries. The ministry has not released findings, and the building stays empty until the ground work is done.
Earlier this week we reported that an excavation wall gave way in Istanbul's Bahçelievler district, where two apartment buildings sank about 10 cm and 20 flats were evacuated.
Why it matters: On hillside lots the retaining wall holds the ground the foundation depends on. New cracks in nearby pavement or a leaning wall are the cue to bring in a geotechnical engineer before the soil moves again.
Sources
- Mamak'ta istinat duvarı yıkılan apartman tahliye edildi, 17 katlı binanın temeli göründüSon Dakika (İHA), Oct 29
- Ankara'da 17 katlı apartmanın istinat duvarı çöktü, temeli açığa çıktı! Bina tahliye edildiHaberler.com (DHA), Oct 30
- Ankara'da istinat duvarı çöken binanın temeli açığa çıktı! Bina tahliye edildiHürriyet (DHA), Oct 30