Problem
When an 80-foot section of shoreline bluff collapsed after days of heavy rain, Lake Forest city officials began an accelerated search for a long-term design-build solution.
Solution
- The ravine was stabilized using a 150-foot soldier beam and a concrete lagged wall with drilled tie backs on one side and compacted aggregates and a geofabric-wrapped slope on the other
- Improvements included a stormwater channeling system of descending step pools, spillways and culverts
- The lakeside bluff face was buttressed with 90,000+ tons of compacted aggregate in 12” lifts rising 70 feet
- A public access road was realigned, repaved, curbed and guttered; disturbed areas were landscaped
Impact
- The Lake Forest Park Beach reopened on schedule 14 months later
- The city was able to solve three emergency needs using one expert contractor in the role of emergency consultant, design builder and competitive bidder
