Construction—North America—USA—Slope Stabilizations
The California Incline: DYWIDAG Soil Nails stabilize a Bluff at an important
Coastal Road in Santa Monica
The California Incline in Santa Monica near Los Angeles, originally designed as a walkway in 1896, was cut through the bluffs
to provide access to the local beach. In 1930, the path was widened to create a 426.7m (1,400ft) long road for vehicle use.
The road also includes a 213.4m (700ft) long reinforced concrete bridge built in 1939. Since then, the road has been the major
artery connecting the Pacific Coast Highway and Ocean Avenue, which leads into the center of Santa Monica.
After 85 years of heavy traffic, the California
Incline was identified as structurally deficient.
Consequently, the section is now being
completely rebuilt and made seismically
resistant. The old bridge with transverse
concrete girders will be replaced by a new
bridge that is being built in the same location.
The new structure consists of a pile-supported
reinforced concrete slab structure. At a width
of 15.8m (51.8ft), the new bridge deck is
wider than the old one and accommodates
additional sidewalks and bicycle lanes.
Within the scope of this project, the eroding
bluff that extends 30.5m (100ft) above the
incline roadway grade had to be stabilized
for the long term.
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For this purpose, 1,000 double corrosion
protected (DCP), 32mm Ø, 75ksi DYWIDAG
Soil Nails were anchored in the stable layers of
the steep coast. A total of 15,850m (50,000ft)
of DYWIDAG THREADBAR ® with a net weight
of 110t was used for soil nail fabrication.
Most of the DYWIDAG Soil Nails that were
up to 22.9m (75ft) long were installed using
high reach dri