3930 W. Century Blvd., Inglewood, CA 90303
Intuit Dome
Inglewood, California: temporary and permanent shoring included cross-lot braces above truck traffic at the entrance tunnel where tieback agreements were unavailable.
A San Diego basement beside a sidewalk can fit inside the parcel while its tiebacks extend beneath public frontage. On a hillside site, excavation depth and retained grades can change around the same building. Cefali & Associates designs earth shoring around those support and construction constraints.
Our California team provides structural excavation-support engineering, using the site geotechnical recommendations and the actual loads around the cut. The California projects below illustrate comparable work at their stated locations.
Excavation and construction
Anchors beneath public frontage
San Diego’s encroachment guidance specifically includes temporary shoring and tiebacks. The space beyond the basement wall therefore matters to both the support layout and the project’s permission to occupy that space. The structural design does not grant access rights.
Where anchors cannot fit around utilities or property restrictions, rakers or cross-lot braces may be considered. Those members occupy the excavation and need to leave room for truck access, foundations, and basement slabs. At Intuit Dome in Inglewood, cross-lot braces were placed above truck traffic where tieback agreements were unavailable.
Excavation and construction
Hillside cuts need site-specific ground criteria
San Diego’s Seismic Safety Study maps show regional hazards and explicitly do not provide site-specific information. They can inform the investigation, but they cannot select pile embedment, anchor geometry, or a bracing arrangement for an individual excavation.
A cut beside an existing footing may require a different support arrangement from the open side of the same basement. The structural design follows the proposed excavation and relevant geotechnical criteria. Supporting an existing foundation through underpinning is a separate scope where needed. For Chula Vista, Carlsbad, Oceanside, or other county municipalities, the applicable local review is specific to that jurisdiction.
Comparable California projects
Experience with constrained excavation.
These documented projects show the engineering and construction conditions. Each example identifies its actual location.
1500 N. Verdugo Rd., Glendale, CA 91208
Glendale Community College
Glendale, California: a permanent shoring wall supported a terraced hillside science building and temporary excavation for drilled-pile foundations.
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.
Southern California office
4344 Laurel Canyon Blvd., Suite 3Los Angeles, CA 91604
Planning resources