Wall Collapse Under Scrutiny

WINNSBORO – Nearly two weeks after the collapse of a 50-foot segment of a more than 500-foot retaining wall at Drawdy Park, the engineer for the project has clammed up, declining to speak with the press about what caused the failure on the nearly $328,000 endeavor. As the County looks to enforce its warranty on the construction, the S.C. Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation (LLR) appears to have taken an interest in the collapse.

While an official spokesperson for LLR would neither confirm nor deny any official investigation into the collapse of the Drawdy Park wall, sources confirmed this week that an LLR investigator was on the scene the day after the collapse, taking photographs and examining the wreckage.

Sam Savage of S2 Engineering and Consulting, with whom Fairfield County contracted for the Drawdy Park project, appeared before County Council during Council’s Jan. 13 meeting, some 24 hours after the collapse. Savage told Council that his role in the construction of the wall was as the project’s manager, and a separate contractor, identified by the County as Four Brothers Enterprise, LLC, constructed the wall.

Four Brothers, the LLR confirmed last week, does not have a commercial contractor’s license, but instead is licensed for residential work, including drywall installation and repair and carpentry. Their projects are limited to $5,000, including labor and materials. S2, in addition to holding a Category A engineering license, also holds a general contractor’s license, to include masonry. Four Brothers could work under S2’s general contracting license as a subcontractor, the LLR said. It is standard practice, according to the LLR, for all subcontractors to be listed in the contract between the engineer and the client. No subcontractors, including Four Brother, are listed in the contract between S2 and Fairfield County.

A local general contractor who wished to remain anonymous pointed out numerous defects in the wall’s construction in the Jan. 17 edition of The Voice. The Voice attempted to contact Four Brothers, but found no telephone contact information online or with the County. Similarly, no telephone number is on file with the LLR.