Vasquez Canyon Road Reconstruction

The County of Los Angeles Department of Public Works (Public Works) is committed to maintaining and preserving the local road system, which includes mountain passes that allow motorists alternatives to the major highways and freeways. One of these important alternate routes is Vasquez Canyon Road. On November 19, 2015, severe road deformation was observed that prompted Public Works to close the road. Approximately 600 feet of roadway was deformed by land movement attributed to a slope failure to the north of the roadway which undermined and lifted the road surface and made it impassable to traffic. To complicate matters further, the slope failure occurred on private property, which limited Public Works’ access to remove the slope failure debris. Public Works found that the property owner was deceased and that no heir had come forward to claim title to the property. Due to the importance of Vasquez Canyon Road as an emergency egress route between two communities, it was critical for the road to be reopened. Because Public Works could not enter private property to remedy the slope failure, Public Works had to devise an innovative strategy to remove material from the slope failure and reopen the road while working within the public road right of way. Public Works Geologists investigated the slope failure area and identified the failure plane. From this data, Public Works hypothesized that removing the toe of the debris field would cause slope debris to move further down into public right of way where it could be removed from the site. Public Works staff began removing slope debris and, as expected, slope debris moved into the road right-of-way as the toe of the slope failure was excavated. Slope debris continued to be removed until the hillside stabilized. Public Works staff then constructed a stability fill by further excavating the deformed roadway below the slope failure plane and backfilling with crushed remnants of the old roadway surface and additional recycled asphalt base material. The roadway was regraded, paved in early November and reopened to traffic on November 23, 2016. The project was well under budget and constructed utilizing Public Works staff and equipment.