Photos by Austin Moore

A custom fabricated forklift attachment allowed crews to move completed rib sections into the tunnel for installation.

Photo by Austin Moore

With waterproofing complete, crews install tunnel liner.

For this $8-million project, crews relined two sets of aging tunnels along Kanan Road, a rugged and mountainous connection between the 101 Freeway and Pacific Coast Highway. Workers used a novel method to install 1.3 million lb of new steel liner. Large sections, or ribs, were prefabricated outside the tunnel and then picked up and transported using a custom-fabricated forklift attachment. The forklift then hoisted the ribs into place atop an existing retaining wall. Contractors also blasted paint from and repainted 60,000 sq ft of existing tunnel liner and installed 80,000 sq ft of waterproofing on the tunnel ceilings. Crews placed 4,300 cu yd of 2,000-psi backfill concrete to fill the space behind the newly erected tunnel liner by using inflatable bulkheads to minimize labor.

Key Players

Contractor Shimmick Construction

Owner/Design Los Angeles County Dept. of Public Works

Subcontractors Cal Stripe Inc.; Concrete Coring Co.; Cor-Ray Painting Co.; Southwest V-Ditch Inc.; Statewide Traffic Safety & Systems; Troyer Contracting Co.