900 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90017
Wilshire Grand Center
Los Angeles, California: soldier piles, tiebacks, and preloaded rakers near Metro tunnels during phased basement demolition.
A Santa Ana redevelopment excavation can have a building on one side and street infrastructure on another. The anchors, piles, and construction equipment need space beyond the line of the finished basement. Cefali & Associates designs earth shoring around the assets and loads that remain during construction.
At Wilshire Grand Center in Los Angeles, Cefali coordinated soldier piles, tiebacks, and preloaded rakers beside Metro tunnels during phased basement demolition. It is a California comparison for constrained support, with its actual project location kept clear.
Excavation and construction
Street infrastructure can limit an anchor path
OCTA identifies the OC Streetcar alignment through Santa Ana and Garden Grove, including embedded street rails and associated power infrastructure. For an excavation beside that corridor, the actual foundations, utilities, and asset-owner criteria matter to the shoring layout. A surface curb line does not describe the underground space available for anchors.
Tiebacks extend behind the retaining face. Where that space is unavailable, internal bracing can keep support within the cut, at the cost of working room. Cefali’s Wilshire Grand work demonstrates support changes near transit structures; it is not a claim of a Cefali assignment on OC Streetcar.
Excavation and construction
Retained basement walls during demolition
An existing basement wall may rely on its floors for lateral restraint. Removing the building above or the slabs inside can change that support before the replacement structure is ready. Temporary bracing has to account for what is removed and what is retained at each stage.
At Westfield Century City in Los Angeles, Cefali used strongbacks and tiebacks to brace retained basement walls while accommodating proposed decks and deep utilities. On a Santa Ana renovation, existing drawings and the demolition sequence help establish whether wall reuse and temporary bracing are appropriate for the actual structure.
Comparable California projects
Experience with constrained excavation.
These documented projects show the engineering and construction conditions. Each example identifies its actual location.
10250 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90067
Westfield Century City
Los Angeles, California: strongbacks and tiebacks braced retained basement walls around deep utilities and new construction.
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.
Planning resources