Cefali& AssociatesContactAt Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach, soldier piles formed part of a permanent retaining wall approximately 50 feet high. Cefali & Associates designed the tied-back wall for the central plant and cogeneration site at the base of the campus hill.
The system used 47 soldier piles and 70 tiebacks. Its permanent role required the pile wall and anchor system to address the finished site, including groundwater, nearby facilities, and seismic loading.
Site conditions
Hoag’s wall used anchored soldier piles to retain the campus hill beside the new plant site. In a tied-back pile wall, the piles, anchor connections, and ground anchors form the support system; pile size alone does not describe its capacity.
Soldier piles can serve a permanent retaining role when designed for that use. Hoag’s permanent wall included an additional seismic load increment associated with the nearby Newport-Inglewood fault. A temporary excavation design cannot simply be assumed to cover that role.
The nearby property line limited the permanent tiebacks. Groundwater and an existing methane gas well also shaped the design. The pile layout and its anchors therefore had to be considered with the conditions surrounding the retaining wall.
Published project work
Hoag Memorial Hospital: 47 soldier piles and 70 tiebacks in a permanent retaining wall for the central plant site.
Engineering scope
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 soldier pile shoring or explore other published work in Newport Beach.