Making Streets Safe--From Rockslides

Standing 130 feet up a hill, Brad Maule and Buddy Johnson watched a 4,000-pound boulder fall down the steep incline toward Laguna Canyon Road.

They both yelled, “Look out!” but unlike most days, there were no cars zooming toward downtown. Instead, the cars were backed up--stopped dead, in fact--half a mile away as workers chipped loose boulders from the hillside to prevent the falling debris that nature pulls down each year.

Maule and Johnson work for Hi-Tech Rockfall Construction Inc. of Oregon, a contracting firm hired by the state to remove the loose rocks. The firm also will attach a mesh drapery on the slope to stop falling rocks and soil from hitting the road.

The crew expects to remove 10 to 15 tons of boulders along the road from Forest Avenue to Canyon Acres Drive.

The $400,000 project, the first of its kind in Orange County, began Nov. 10 and should be completed by the end of January, said James C. Roth, who is in charge of the project for Hi-Tech.

For years, erosion has loosened rocks on the steep hill, officials said, but the mesh should prevent further rock slides.

“This is the worst you can get--a steep slope and loose rocks,” said Ali Solehjou, an engineer with Caltrans.

The hillside’s falling debris has never caused any accidents, City Manager Kenneth C. Frank said. But, he added, “it’s important for us to have the work done.”

Despite the obvious need for safety measures, drivers along Laguna Canyon Road have been upset by the traffic delays, which began a few days before Thanksgiving and are expected to continue through today.

“We did get phone calls from people who were inconvenienced substantially,” Frank said.