Cefali& AssociatesContactShoring and excavation support
A retaining wall at the base of a developed hill must carry earth loads while fitting the foundations, utilities, and property limits around it. At Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach, Cefali & Associates designed a permanent tied-back soldier pile wall approximately 50 feet high for the central plant site.
The Hoag design accounted for groundwater, a nearby property line, an existing methane gas well, and seismic loading. That documented work supports our Orange County shoring and earth-retention services for owners, architects, and construction teams.
Excavation and construction
The Hoag wall used 47 soldier piles and 70 tiebacks. The retained hill and nearby facilities created several simultaneous design constraints. Permanent anchors had to fit the available property rights, and the structural design included the documented seismic load increment.
A wall designed for the completed site can also face a different construction-stage condition before the new foundations and surrounding work are finished. The engineering has to address the stages assigned to that wall, including how temporary support relates to the permanent structure.
Excavation and construction
A basement in Newport Beach or Costa Mesa, an Irvine commercial development, and an Anaheim or Santa Ana building expansion may have very different depths, ground conditions, and access. Groundwater at one hospital site is not evidence of groundwater at every Orange County excavation.
Tiebacks need space behind the wall and appropriate property rights. Internal braces instead use space inside the excavation, where they can conflict with foundation construction. Cefali develops the support around those physical limits and the project geotechnical criteria. Retaining-wall drainage and wider hillside stability remain separate engineering considerations.
Comparable California projects
These documented projects show the engineering and construction conditions. Each example identifies its actual location.
Newport Beach, California: permanent tied-back soldier pile retaining wall for the Hoag central plant site at the base of the campus hill above Pacific Coast Highway.
Engineering scope
A concept for bidding, detailed drawings and calculations, and engineering for construction-stage changes can be separate assignments. The proposal identifies the services included. Geotechnical assessment, water-control design, property rights, and contractor installation remain distinct responsibilities.
See our shoring engineering services, temporary shoring design, soldier pile walls, tieback shoring, and soil nail walls.
Planning resources