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Posts about fire rebuild civil engineering in Los Angeles after the January 2025 Eaton and Palisades fires. Permits, hydrology, drainage, and grading.
A drainage plan and hydrology report for an Altadena fire rebuild where the site slopes 11 feet from street to rear. We designed flowlines around the main house and proposed ADU, added plastic lined rain gardens on both sides, and used the hydrology report to show pre-fire impervious was greater than proposed.
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LA County often requires pumps on Altadena fire rebuild projects. But there are ways to get around that requirement. If you are planning to add an ADU later, doing the extra engineering now could save $15,000 to $20,000 by avoiding sump pump requirements.
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We recently got a drainage plan approved in Altadena without requiring a sump pump or a LID maintenance covenant. Here is the engineering behind why it worked.
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LA County requirements keep changing after the Eaton Fire. Most Altadena fire rebuilds only need a drainage plan, not a full grading plan. Here is what can trigger the requirements.
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A fire rebuild project on Chapala Drive in Pacific Palisades required a grading plan, excavation plan, erosion control plan, and stormwater sump pump design for a basement with 2 stories above. The corner lot had existing drainage from NW to SE and a proposed pool with lightwells below street grade.
Read MoreAn Altadena fire rebuild addition on a sideways lot created a drainage challenge when the rear of the addition sat lower than the existing garage. Here is how we figured out the drainage without using a sump pump.
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Drainage plan for a 0.1685-acre Altadena sideways lot. The lot slopes 7% east to west with minimal north-south elevation change. Sheet flow design with flowline splitting to sideyard and driveway.
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A steep Altadena fire rebuild grading plan near the base of the San Gabriel Mountains. We took over from another civil engineer to design cost-effective grading and drainage.
Read MoreThe Pacific Palisades fire rebuild process is different from a standard project. Here is what your grading plan needs to get through LADBS approval.
Read MorePacific Palisades fire rebuilds often require grading plans, excavation plans, stormwater sump pumps, and erosion control. Basements add complexity requiring shoring plans from structural engineers.
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Our second drainage plan for a Wapello Street property in Altadena. Looking at the existing topography with an excavated house pad, downslope site, and existing pool to work around.
Read MoreA look at current construction costs for Altadena fire rebuilds, what goes into the pricing, and where engineering fits into the total budget.
Read MoreMany Altadena fire rebuilds are told they need a sump pump. Here's how we sometimes show the site drains the same way it did before the fire and skip the pump entirely.
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A drive through Altadena to see the aftermath of the fire, and a first look at a project we're engineering - drainage plans and hydrology report for a hillside residential rebuild.
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How we designed a drainage plan for an Altadena fire rebuild, starting with existing survey data, tying into neighbor elevations, and setting up flowlines to gravity drain to the street.
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An Altadena fire rebuild drainage plan for a lot with a 10ft front-to-back drop and existing pool. We raise the house, re-grade the driveway, and add rain gardens to keep post-development Q similar to pre-fire levels.
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When does an Altadena property need a sump pump? We follow LA County standards for design and try to avoid pumps whenever gravity drainage can work instead.
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We are taking over for another Civil Engineer to bring construction costs down on some Altadena fire rebuild drainage plans. This particular lot we were able to sheet flow the entire property.
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Our next Altadena drainage plan is for a lot with manufactured homes, consisting of basically two ADU's. With the way this lot slopes and two smaller, separate structures, we are trying to save as much on construction costs as possible.
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Another Altadena fire rebuild where the client also wanted to try to widen the driveway. These are pretty straightforward normally, but some of the older streets in Altadena have a concrete slab acting like a little bridge over the street flowline.
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A bit of back and forth still with LA County with our creative solutions to getting Altadena Drainage plans approved. Plan check wanted some minor modifications which is fair enough to bring the plastic lined rain gardens 5 feet off the property lines.
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Its been an experience, but we are finally getting the latest batch of Altadena drainage plans approved by LA County. Our technique is to keep the existing drainage pattern so we don't have to install stormwater sump pumps.
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This is our first sideways lot in Altadena, with the entrance on the West side and the topography slopes North to South. The goal is to drain as much stormwater to the street as possible using gravity.
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Going through plan checks and getting the current requirements back in a correction, one of the projects had their insurance ask what code LA County is using to require drainage plans on some lots, and not on others.
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This Altadena Drainage Plan is a corner lot fire rebuild. The proposed house sits in a similar location but we need to adjust the existing contours to keep 5% slope 10 feet from the structure at the top.
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Next up in the Altadena fire rebuilds is a grading plan to remove a pool. This will be our first pool removal plan in Altadena. This particular lot is a large one and the County is requiring a grading plan to remove the pool.
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We have another longer lot Altadena Fire Rebuild Drainage Plan. This lot, the front yard doesn't slope as heavily as the previous ones we have seen, which allows more room to slightly regrade the contours.
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LA County wants us to show earthwork numbers for the difference between the existing and proposed soil. Showing the contours in a 3d orbit view always looks interesting and a quick way to tell if the model is looking good or not.
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Any lot that sits on the North side of the block or sideways in Altadena is likely going to require drainage plans. Some South lots might require drainage plans as well.
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Our first Altadena rebuild like for like project was pretty smooth. The idea was that the proposed house would be in nearly the same footprint as the existing now gone house.
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Altadena, tucked beneath the San Gabriel Mountains, is a charming Los Angeles County community known for its scenic beauty and charming homes. Unlike the steep hillsides of nearby areas, Altadena's flatter terrain presents its own set of grading and drainage challenges.
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