Transit below or beside the cut
At Wilshire Grand Center in Downtown Los Angeles, Metro tunnels lay close to the soldier piles. The shoring used tiebacks above and preloaded rakers at and below tunnel level, with instrumentation during excavation.
A Los Angeles excavation can run beside a transit tunnel, an existing basement, or a busy street. Shoring holds the cut while the foundation is built, but piles, anchors, and braces also have to fit the site’s boundaries, access, and construction sequence.
Cefali & Associates designs temporary excavation support for these conditions. Its published Los Angeles work includes deep basement shoring, soldier piles, tiebacks, walers, preloaded rakers, and underpinning beside constrained cuts. The projects below show how the support changed with the physical conditions at each site. The broader shoring service also covers permanent earth retention, documented separately at projects in Inglewood and Glendale.
An early shoring concept, detailed design, and revisions during construction can be scoped separately. Describe the proposed cut or what has changed, and send the plans and geotechnical information available so far. We can discuss the engineering needed for that stage of your project.
Our engineers
Shoring design since 1994.
Cefali & Associates was founded in 1994 by David Cefali, S.E., who specializes in temporary and permanent earth shoring systems. Scott Watterson, S.E. focuses on earth retention, soldier pile retaining walls, and temporary shoring. Their biographies include their California engineering licenses.
At Wilshire Grand Center, Cefali designed shoring for a deep excavation beside Metro tunnels. David coauthored a 2016 ASCE conference paper on the design. A separate SME case study credits Cefali as the shoring designer and Malcolm Drilling as the installer.
Site conditions
How Los Angeles site conditions shape shoring
Existing walls and short anchor space
At The Grand, the active 2nd Street Tunnel limited anchor length. An existing retaining wall also blocked tieback drilling at some piles, so a multi-row waler system transferred loads to other anchor locations.
Deeper cuts after work begins
At 6th & Bixel, petroleum-affected soils required a deeper excavation after the original cut was reached. The soldier piles remained, with added tiebacks and walers for the revised depth.
Existing buildings beside the cut
At Columbia Square in Hollywood, corner braces and rakers supplemented tiebacks around historic buildings. At Century Plaza in Century City, cantilever piles, tiebacks, and rakers supported work beside existing structures.
Metro structures close to the wall
At BLVD 6200 South in Hollywood, less than five feet separated soldier piles from station walls. Internal bracing supported that edge, while other parts of the excavation used tiebacks.
Published project work
Los Angeles projects behind this service
900 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90017
Wilshire Grand Center
Seven rows of tiebacks and preloaded rakers supported a deep Downtown excavation near Metro tunnels.
100 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90012
The Grand
Short anchors and a multi-row waler system worked around a tunnel and existing retaining wall.
Sofia, 1120 W. 6th St., Los Angeles, CA 90017
6th & Bixel
Additional tiebacks and walers supported a deeper garage excavation after site conditions changed.
1201 S. Hope St., Los Angeles, CA 90015
1201 S. Hope
A 55-foot garage shoring redesign coordinated tiebacks near Pico Station in South Park.
755 S. Figueroa St. (now Beaudry at 960 W. 7th St.), Los Angeles, CA
755 Fig
Underpinning at an existing vault was designed with corner bracing, walers, and horizontal tiebacks within a narrow Downtown excavation.
1525 N. Gower St., Los Angeles, CA 90028
Columbia Square
Hollywood excavation support used tiebacks, corner bracing, and rakers around historic structures.
2025 Avenue of the Stars, Los Angeles, CA 90067
Century Plaza
Century City work used cantilever piles, tiebacks, and rakers beside existing buildings.
Hollywood Blvd. at Argyle Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90028
BLVD 6200 North and South
Near Hollywood/Vine Station, internal bracing supported the edge where Metro structures left little room behind the soldier piles.
Engineering scope
From local project to your site
These projects show how excavation depth, neighboring structures, access, and the permanent work can change the support design. Your site needs its own geotechnical criteria and structural design. The contractor determines installation and construction means and methods.
Read more about shoring and support of excavation design or explore other published work in Los Angeles.
For the excavation stages, see temporary shoring design. Where the support uses a particular system, see soldier pile shoring and tieback shoring.
A cut beside a building needs to account for its existing foundations. Where transit limits anchor space, the Metro-adjacent excavation guide explains documented Los Angeles support arrangements.
An excavation that becomes deeper after piles are installed needs review of the support already in place. Ramps and construction access can also affect loads and the room available for bracing.
If redevelopment keeps existing basement walls, see our Los Angeles earth-retention work.