The fallen wall panel at Stonebridge at Potomac Town Center has been removed, and the roadway on the property has been reopened.
“The removed [the wall panel] on Friday – they picked up the concrete piece. And the road was open by Friday by 5 o’clock [p.m.],” said Stonebridge Property Manager Anastasia Paszkiewicz.
Prince William County Director of Development Services Wade Hugh said that the wall panel that fell was not a structural piece of the wall itself.
“All signs indicate this was not a structural issue…the wall is firmly intact – this is the façade [that fell] that goes onto the wall, to make it look nice…so the first thing I want to stress is that again, no signs that there’s any structural issue,” said Hugh.
According to Hugh the engineering team that works with The JBG Companies, the developer that owns and operates Stonebridge, is looking at the cause of the fall.
“What caused that piece of façade to fall – that’s what their engineer team is looking into,” said Hugh.
When the wall panel fell, the county recommended that they close off the roadway near the entrance of the shopping center, which was closed off for several weeks.
Hugh said that now the engineer team for the site will submit a report outlining the cause of the fall and what they will do to remedy the issue.
“They’ll do their assessment, they’ll submit a report detailing what they think was the cause, and ‘Here’s the solution’. And because it will involve building plans, they will submit those plans to our office, we’ll review it, approve it,” said Hugh.
There is no solid timeline for replacing the wall panel.
According to Paszkiewicz, the other wall panels at the entrance of the shopping center have been secured and she is not concerned about any other panels falling.
“As it is right now, the [wall] is secure and safe. Now that the roadway is open, what the next steps are will be coming in the next couple days or weeks, as far as long-term fix,” said Paszkiewicz.
