CalGEO - The California Geotechnical Engineering Association

2008-2009 Medium Project Award Winner
TerraCosta Consulting Group
Wilson Cove Floating Dock and Small Boat Mooring Installation, 
San Clemente Island, CA

Owner: United States Navy
Geotechnical Engineer: TerraCosta Consulting Group
Civil Engineer: TerraCosta Consulting Group
Structural Engineer: Blaylock Engineering Group
Contractor: TerraCosta Consulting Group

Shortly after reconstruction of the Navy’s Wilson Cove pier on San Clemente Island, it became evident the pier did not have sufficient berthing facilities to support the watercraft that typically visited the site.  Attempts to improve small-boat access and safety were severely hampered due to geotechnical challenges associated with the sandy cove bottom and an extremely hard rhyolitic tuff with unconfined compressive strengths approaching 7,000 psi.

The Navy retained Blaylock Engineering Group as part of an IDIQ contract to conduct a floating-dock-and-mooring-systems engineering study to address viable solutions for small-boat berthing adjacent to the existing Wilson Cove pier.  TerraCosta augmented Blaylock’s study with the geotechnical constrains specific to the project. 

The result of these studies was a design-build project led by TerraCosta and Gregg Drilling to construct a new 12-foot-wide by 50-foot-long floating dock system installed adjacent to the existing pier, secured to the seabed by the patented SEAFLEX elastic mooring system.  After several years of service, the project remains essentially maintenance-free and has exceeded all of the Navy’s expectations.

2008-2009 Small Project Award Winner
Upp Geotechnology
Willow Creek Landslide Repair, Campbell, CA

Owner: Six Owners
Geotechnical Engineer: Upp Geotechnology
Civil Engineer: Upp Geotechnology
Structural Engineer: RC Consulting Engineers
Contractor: Sunstone Construction

The presence of the Willow Creek Landslide was a diagnosis by Upp Geotechnology after a phone call from an insurance company requesting services to evaluate distress to a single-family home adjacent to biologically sensitive wetlands.  The immediate recommendation was to underpin the home before the impending winter rains.

The Willow Creek Landslide, although a relatively small project, occurred in an area that had limited access due to existing improvements on the up-gradient side and the “off-limits” wetlands on the down-gradient (or toe) side of the slide.  Site geometrics required an innovative approach to the subsurface exploration that coordinated an array of techniques including truck and crawler-mounted large-diameter borings, truck and portable small-diameter borings, hand-excavated pits to 35 feet, and crawler-mounted mini excavator trenches.  The innovative slope stabilization and repair was based on an underground stitch-pier retaining wall to both stabilize the slope and function as a foundation for the existing rebuilt retaining wall. 

The geotechnical work was severely hampered not only by site access but by multiple owners and defense consultants.  Ultimately, a repair scheme of drilling holes and filling them with steel casings mitigated the landslide hazard.  As a result of the landslide stabilization and later reconstruction of the slope, six middle-class families were saved from devastating financial loses, while maintaining and preserving the wetlands habitat.

2007-2008
Large Project Award: Geoform/Stoney Miller Consultants I Bluebird Canyon Landslide, Laguna Beach
Mid-Sized Project Award: Diaz-Yourman & Assoc. I Port of Long Beach Security Command & Control Center, Long Beach
Honorable Mention: Leighton Consulting, Inc. I Penske Truck Leasing Facility

2006-2007
Large Project Award: Zeiser Kling Consultants, Inc. I Verdugo Mountain Project, Los Angeles
Small Project Award: Geotechnologies, Inc. I Ennis House Retaining Wall Replacement Project, Los Angeles

2005-2006
Large Project Award: Terra Costa consulting Group, Inc. I The Point, Rancho Bernardo
Mid-Sized Project Award: Wallace-Kuhl & Assoc., Inc. I CalPERS Headquarters Expansion, Sacramento

2004-2005
Large Project Award: Diaz-Yourman & Assoc. I Pier T Container Terminal, Long Beach
Large Project Award: Leighton Consulting, Inc. I Carnival Cruise Line Terminal & Berth, Long Beach

2003-2004
Large Project Award: GeoSoils Consultants, Inc. I The Painted Turtle Camp, Lake Hughes
Small Project Award: Kleinfelder, Inc. I Wildgoose Natural Gas Storage Expansion, Gridley
Honorable Mention: Vector Engineering I Monterey Peninsula Landfill Module 4, Monterey

2002-2003
Large Project Award: Diaz-Yourman & Assoc. I Port of Los Angeles Pier 400 Building & Gate Facilities, Los Angeles
Small Project Award: Geotechnologies, Inc. I USC’s North Science Building Project, Los Angeles
Honorable Mention: David H. Lee & Assoc., Inc. I Via Cerro Rebal Landslide, San Juan Capistrano

2001-2002
Outstanding Project Award: Kleinfelder, Inc. I Crestview/Pinehurst Landslide, Millbrae
Outstanding Project Award: Diaz-Yourman & Assoc. I Henry Ford Avenue Grade Separation, Long Beach
Outstanding Project Award: R.T. Frankian & Assoc. I Golden Valley Road Phase One & High School, Merced

2000-2001
Outstanding Project Award: FugroWest, Inc. I Chorro Creek Bridge Project, Morro Bay
Outstanding Project Award: Kleinfelder, Inc. I Roseville Parkway Extension Project, Roseville
Outstanding Project Award: GMU Geotechnical, Inc. I Hotel Del Coronado Seismic Renovation, Coronado
Honorable Mention: PSC Assoc. I San Francisco International Airport International Terminal Complex, San Francisco
Honorable Mention: Youngdahl Consulting Group I Residential Asbestos Mitigation, El Dorado County