Sofia, 1120 W. 6th St., Los Angeles, CA 90017
6th & Bixel
Los Angeles, California: additional tiebacks and walers supplemented soldier piles when removal of petroleum-affected soil required a deeper excavation.
A Sacramento basement or utility excavation can need temporary water control before foundations are built. The shoring wall carries structural loads around the cut, while the water-control approach affects the conditions in which that support must work.
Cefali & Associates provides structural shoring and earth-retention engineering through its Pleasant Hill office. We design the support around the proposed excavation, neighboring loads, construction access, and the geotechnical recommendations for the site.
Excavation and construction
Groundwater assumptions shape the support
Where the site investigation identifies groundwater at excavation depth, the structural design needs the applicable water and earth-pressure criteria. A pumping plan or a discharge permission does not provide the pile, anchor, or brace design. Shoring design alone does not establish the groundwater-control system.
The City of Sacramento distinguishes construction dewatering from groundwater dewatering and identifies separate discharge requirements. Those permissions address where water may go. The support arrangement must also leave physical room for the water-control equipment, excavation access, and permanent foundations.
Excavation and construction
A deeper cut changes the structural assignment
A revised basement depth or localized over-excavation changes the retained height and can change support levels. An existing shoring layout cannot be assumed adequate for the revised cut. At 6th & Bixel in Los Angeles, deeper removal of petroleum-affected soil required additional tiebacks and walers.
For Sacramento, West Sacramento, Elk Grove, Roseville, Folsom, and Davis projects, the ground investigation and local review remain specific to the actual site and jurisdiction. Changes in depth, proposed water control, or nearby foundation loads need to reach the shoring design before the revised excavation proceeds.
Comparable California projects
Experience with constrained excavation.
These documented projects show the engineering and construction conditions. Each example identifies its actual location.
Hoag Hospital Newport Beach, 1 Hoag Dr., Newport Beach, CA 92663
Hoag Memorial Hospital
Newport Beach, California: groundwater was one of several design constraints for a permanent tied-back soldier pile retaining wall.
Engineering scope
From a support concept to structural details.
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.
Northern California office
2800 Pleasant Hill Road, Suite 225Pleasant Hill, CA 94523
Planning resources