St Helena : The Haven Damaged by Controlled Rock-fall
Submitted by Saint Helena Herald (Juanita Brock) 09.04.2005 (Article Archived on 23.04.2005)
Last weekend saw yet another controlled rock-fall operation. The Haven sustained only minor damage and no one was hurt.
Photo (c) Mark Heron - AB sailing PWD men work on dislodging the rocks
THE HAVEN DAMAGED BY CONTROLLED ROCK-FALL
By Stuart Moors
Last weekend saw yet another controlled rock-fall operation. The Haven sustained only minor damage and no one was hurt.
Late last Saturday, the Side Path road was cordoned off after heavy rains had dislodged rocks from the hillside above The Haven in Jamestown, some of which landed in the car park behind the building. To be safe, the area was evacuated (although some residents of houses in the vicinity refused to be evacuated), some Haven residents being accommodated at the Hospital, others at private homes, before a thorough investigation of the hillside was carried out by the Public Works & Services Department the following morning. The investigation discovered many rocks and boulders which were dangerously loose as a result of the removal of fine material washed away by the heavy rains.
The rock guards managed to break up some of the boulders by hand using hammers, and to hand-pack the smaller rocks into stable piles on the hillside, but others had to be released down the hillside. The result was a small hole in the back wall of The Haven, which caused some break-up of plaster on the inside wall, and two gaps in the stone wall along the edge of Side Path, which the PW&SD are currently repairing.
After the area was deemed safe, the evacuees were allowed back into their homes on Sunday evening.
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