900 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90017
Wilshire Grand Center
Downtown: phased basement demolition, deep shoring, tiebacks, and rakers near Metro tunnels.
Los Angeles, California
Excavation and shoring work in Los Angeles
Los Angeles basement excavations can sit against older foundations, active streets, and underground transit. The excavation support must work around those conditions while leaving room for the new structure and construction access.
Cefali & Associates has documented shoring work in Downtown Los Angeles, South Park, Hollywood, and Century City. The projects below show different ground support conditions within the city, rather than one standard system for every site.
Our Southern California office is at 4344 Laurel Canyon Blvd., Suite 3, Los Angeles, CA 91604.
Local conditions
Different support across Los Angeles sites
At Wilshire Grand Center, support changed near Metro tunnels; at The Grand, an existing wall and the 2nd Street Tunnel limited anchor locations. A 55-foot garage excavation at 1201 S. Hope called for tieback coordination near Pico Station. In Hollywood, historic structures shaped the bracing at Columbia Square. Century Plaza in Century City combined temporary cantilever piles, tiebacks, and rakers around existing buildings.
Engineering services
Services for Los Angeles sites
Explore the services used on documented local projects and the broader engineering work available for other site conditions.
Local project experienceEarth Retention Engineering in Los AngelesEarth retention work in Downtown Los Angeles and Century City, including tunnel-adjacent excavation, reused basement walls, and constrained tieback layouts.↗Local project experienceShoring Engineer in Los AngelesLos Angeles shoring engineering for deep excavations and basements. See Cefali & Associates work at Wilshire Grand, The Grand, 6th & Bixel, and 1201 S. Hope.↗Local project experienceSoldier Pile Shoring in Los AngelesLos Angeles soldier pile shoring at Downtown and South Park excavations, including deeper cuts, narrow alleys, and bracing beside existing buildings.↗Local project experienceTieback Shoring in Los AngelesLos Angeles tieback shoring experience at The Grand, Wilshire Grand, and 1201 S. Hope, where tunnels, existing walls, and garage geometry shaped anchor layouts.↗Service overviewSoil Nail WallsSoil nail walls for staged excavation and retaining work, with nail layouts and facing designed for the ground conditions and available space.↗Local project experienceMicropile Engineering Experience in Los AngelesDocumented Cefali & Associates micropile work across multiple LAX assignments in Los Angeles, with the scope kept to the published airport portfolio.↗Local project experienceUnderpinning Engineering in Los AngelesLos Angeles underpinning experience at 755 Fig and across documented LAX assignments, with excavation support beside existing structures.↗Service overviewSlope StabilizationStructural support for hillside sites, based on the slope geometry, geotechnical findings, property boundaries, and room for construction.↗Service overviewRetaining WallsPermanent retaining walls designed for the finished grades, nearby structures, and excavation needed to build them.↗Service overviewStructural Peer ReviewA focused review of structural designs, calculations, details, or proposed changes, with the questions and extent of review agreed at the start.↗
Published work
Projects in Los Angeles
100 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90012
The Grand
Downtown: short anchors near the 2nd Street Tunnel and walers beside an existing retaining wall.
1201 S. Hope St., Los Angeles, CA 90015
1201 S. Hope
South Park: shoring redesign for a 55-foot garage excavation near Pico Station.
Sofia, 1120 W. 6th St., Los Angeles, CA 90017
6th & Bixel
Downtown: soldier piles supplemented with tiebacks and walers after a deeper cut was needed.
1525 N. Gower St., Los Angeles, CA 90028
Columbia Square
Hollywood: tiebacks beneath narrow streets, with corner braces and rakers around historic structures.
2025 Avenue of the Stars, Los Angeles, CA 90067
Century Plaza
Century City: cantilever piles, tiebacks, and rakers around existing structures and deep utilities.
More Los Angeles projects
- Lakeridge Slope Stabilization The Lakeridge slope stabilization site is on a hillside above Hollywood Reservoir in Los Angeles.
- Metro BLOC Tunnel Cefali designed a sequenced beam-and-column support system for confined excavation with low overhead, restricted access, and a permanent passage that had to remain clear.
- BLVD 6200 North and South Excavations reached roughly 54 to 59 feet and required different support approaches where Metro station, air, blast-relief, and entrance structures constrained the shoring.
- TEN50 The three-level excavation used two and three rows of tiebacks, with corner bracing near deep utilities and monitoring during pile installation beside an older brick structure.
- Thompson Hotel The excavation reached about 46 feet. Cefali later modified the support design after floor-to-floor heights increased and the excavation became deeper.
- Westfield Century City The shoring approach reused existing basement walls, with bracing coordinated around deep utilities, a bridge pier, adjacent structures, and new construction.
- LAX - Multiple Projects Cefali’s LAX work spans terminal, bridge, baggage, tunnel, utility, and other airport assignments. The published project information groups the work collectively rather than assigning every system to a specific location.
- G-8 A nearby basement constrained the raker layout, requiring a tied-back bearing pad to maintain support as excavation advanced near the P4 wall line.
- 12th and Grand A 20-foot alley separated two excavation areas. Cefali coordinated cross-alley tie rods so shoring could support the roadway without tiebacks extending into the neighboring site.
- 755 Fig Excavation depths ranged from 25 to 97 feet, with heavy adjacent-building surcharges, internal bracing, underpinning, and temporary pedestrian-access support.
- USC Coliseum Historical and retrofit drawings informed the shoring design, including support for entrance stairs cantilevered over excavation and work around exposed existing tunnels.