Desert View Drive Slope Repair and Restoration
Desert View Drive Slope Repair and Restoration | San Diego, CA
The Rose Canyon Fault (Fault) runs beneath the City of San Diego (City) near Mission Valley and toward La Jolla. This Fault is the primary potential seismic hazard to the City and a moderately large earthquake could do significant damage to the City.
In 2015, an emergency was declared by the City after detecting movement on the Fault. This potential damage included a landside that would affect the homes, roads, and residents of Mount Soledad. The Desert View Drive Slope Repair and Restoration project required immediate response and coordination with staff at the United States Army Corps of Engineers and the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board. LSA’s Carlsbad office, led by project manager, Jaime Morales and Principal in Charge, Mike Trotta, teamed with Leighton and Associates and provided the following services:
- Pre-construction biological, cultural and paleontological resources assessments;
- Formal jurisdictional delineation and technical report preparation;
- Multiple nesting bird surveys prior to vegetation clearing;
- Revegetation plan preparation;
- Biological, cultural, and paleontological resources construction monitoring;
- Clean Water Act Section 404 permit application for impacts to waters of the United States associated with construction of the project;
- Collaboration with project design team to determine innovative solutions to address engineering and environmental challenges and
- Attendance at weekly project site meetings to provide progress reports regarding the environmental monitoring and reporting.
The project site is adjacent to a Multiple Habitat Planning Area and is occupied by coastal California gnatcatcher. After the eroded slot canyon was successfully improved and landslide potential was stabilized, LSA oversaw the implementation of the coastal sage scrub and native grassland revegetation effort within areas affected by construction. The revegetation effort successfully restored native vegetation at the project site and was approved by the City. This high profile project was completed in December 2018 and received the American Public Works Association Disaster/Emergency Award.