Unsafe wall closes Bath road while urgent works are carried out

A road at Lansdown in Bath has been closed while urgent works are carried out to a retaining wall.

The wall that has begun to collapse

An application seeking listed building consent was submitted to Bath & North East Somerset Council last week by Kingswood School for the wall along Hamilton Road.

A report with the application says: “The proposed works are required in the interests of public safety and the long-term conservation of the boundary wall.

“Sections of the wall have been identified as presenting an immediate risk due to movement, loss of stability and the potential for collapse onto the adjacent public highway.

“The works are therefore necessary, proportionate and time-critical.”

Fencing has been erected next to the wall to keep the public safe.

A temporary road closure has been put in place

The report says the wall has been subject to ongoing structural monitoring after concerns were identified in condition surveys in 2019. Subsequent inspections have recorded further movement.

Parts of the wall have already been dismantled, with the application for consent “concurrent with the works as a record of the scope and methodology”.

The report says that sound salvaged masonry will be reused where practicable, and temporary and permanent stabilisation measures implemented in accordance with the structural engineer’s recommendations.