A close call with a wall collapse at the Roman dig near Trier

Lisa Kelly · 2026-04-13T16:10:06.931152+00:00

Two days ago, we were clearing a small room in a villa rustica site. I was brushing dirt from a painted plaster section when a student's trowel hit a weak spot in the foundation. A three-foot section of the wall started to crumble inward. I yelled for everyone to step back and we braced it with our field boards within about thirty seconds. The plaster survived, but it was a real scare. Has anyone else had to deal with sudden structural failure on a dig?

the_jennifer3mo ago

How long did it take to get proper shoring after the rain?

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mitchell.wade6mo ago

Man, that sounds way too close for comfort! Had a similar scare last summer on a domestic site, an old farmhouse cellar. We were mapping the stone foundation and a whole corner just slumped in after a rainstorm. The sound of those rocks shifting still makes my hair stand up. We had to drop everything and shore it up with spare lumber from the tool trailer. Nothing gets your heart going like watching history try to fall on you.

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grant.margaret6mo ago

Wow, that's terrifying! I used to think our main worry was the weather, but hearing your story and @mitchell.wade's really shifted my view. Last year a trench wall gave way near me, just from vibration from a nearby road. Now I'm way more careful about checking for cracks and loose soil before we even start.

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