Workers inspect new wire mesh on Foothill Boulevard slope
Three years after a boulder fell from a hillside along Foothill Boulevard in La Cañada Flintridge, work is nearing completion on a $165,000 installation of wire mesh to prevent a similar occurrence.
“We’re trying to do it and maintain some aesthetic appeal in that area,” Edward Hitti, director of the Public Works Dept., explained at a meeting of the City Council.
Hitti noted the netting is less expensive and more attractive than erecting a higher wall.
The first rock fall incident took place on March 20, 2011 on property belonging to Caltrans. It was decided earlier this year that a netting made of tension wires would be installed on the slope, located near Briggs Avenue, west of Ocean View Boulevard. The project got underway May 5; workers with KANE GeoTech, the firm hired for the job, scaled the hillside Wednesday to inspect the installation.
The city may decide at a later date to add ground cover on the slope to soften the appearance of the wire mesh, if natural vegetation doesn’t regenerate there.
“We’re going to kind of take a wait and see attitude,” Hitti said.
-- Carol Cormaci, carol.cormaci@latimes.com
Follow on Twitter: @CarolCormaci.
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