San Diego, January 2017: Leighton was the prime consultant for the Desert View Drive Slope Repair and Restoration, the ASCE Region 9 2016 Geotechnical Engineering Project of the Year.
Desert View Drive is located in the Mount Soledad area atop a steep natural slope that descends approximately 300 feet in elevation over a length of 1,000 feet to the east to California Interstate Highway 5. The natural slopes have gradients that vary from a near vertical to a 2:1 (horizontal to vertical). Portions of the slope adjacent to Desert View Drive consist of fill soils that were placed during the road construction and subdivision grading in the 1960’s with slope gradients of approximately 1.5 to 1 (horizontal to vertical), or steeper.
Because of the history and sensitive nature of this portion of Mount Soledad, observed distress in Desert View Drive pavement, and significant erosion near the existing storm drain outlet, the City requested that repairs be designed and constructed under a time sensitive effort. Field work included installation of slope inclinometers drilling small-diameter borings to collect soil samples laboratory testing, as well as, drilling several large diameter borings for downhole logging for the development of repair plans. Repair plans consist of buttress fill and reconstructed/rerouted City storm drain. Construction services included geotechnical observation and testing of the canyon fill and storm drain backfill, review of material submittals, materials testing and inspection of concrete structures. Environmental services included Biological Resources Report, Habitat Restoration Plan, Cultural Resources Letter, and Regulatory Agency Permit Application preparation.
