With major rainstorms predicted over the next week, crews in San Clemente were busy at work on Wednesday, Jan. 31, covering a hillside beneath the Casa Romantica Cultural Center and Gardens, where the city has been doing emergency work to stabilize the slope.
Work on the $8.5 million project – done through an emergency permit from the California Coastal Commission – started in November and is expected to stabilize the ground beneath the historic home that was damaged in April when the slope collapsed, tearing the property’s view terrace apart and sending debris and rubble down into several units of a condominium and onto railroad tracks along the beach.
The landslide caused train traffic to be halted through the area for weeks,
The work is about a third done, said David Rebensdorf, San Clemente’s assistant city engineer.
The steep slope is being reinforced with four rows of tiebacks that are being bored into the hillside and stabilized with cables connected to concrete beams. Crews have been making good progress, Rebensdorf said, but have stopped now because of the rain from a storm expected to hit the area early Thursday morning.
“We’re covering the area with plastic and drainage from the property will be pumped out onto the street,” he said, adding that this storm, what National Weather Service meteorologists call a Pineapple Express because of its tropical Pacific origins, is expected to be more impactful than previous rain events.
While crews are doing their best to cover the areas presently being stabilized, Rebensdorf said it’s always possible for rain to get beneath the surface, and with construction underway, challenges can arise. Still, he was optimistic that the ground will remain stable.
Since the emergency work began, there has been “very nominal movement, if any,” he said.
The 2.5-acre property was once home to city founder Ole Hansen. The buildings and land are owned by the city, but programs are put on by a nonprofit….
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