A preliminary investigation is under way to find the cause behind the slippage of a Mount Soledad neighborhood, with the hope that the slide can be stopped before tragedy strikes for a second time in the La Jolla area.
Via Avola is a private street at the top of a San Diego mountain that, before the recent landslide, only saw controversy from the large cross nearby.
Now, nearly 30 of the 40 homeowners are filing suit against the city for what they claim is a clear-cut situation “” their street is sliding because the city neglected to adequately repair leaking water pipes beginning in August 2006, said Richard Brehm, president of the Homeowner’s Association.
The homeowners on Via Avola signed with Patrick E. Catalano’s law firm in late July. They filed an initial claim with the city, which was rejected, on Aug. 6, 2007, Brehm said.
Catalano’s firm, which also represents many of the residents on the other side of the mountain, hired American Geotechnical “” the same geologists working at that landslide “” to begin their investigation to find the amount of movement on Via Avola and the cause.
Once American Geotechnical determines the rate at which the street is moving, it will be able to choose a solution.
According to Brehm, tiebacks or caissons “” reinforced concrete cylindrical tubes “” are two possibilities.
On Monday, Nov. 12, American Geotechnical engineering geologist Kevin Rogers and staff from Pacific Drilling began digging holes along the street.
They will install a total of eight slope inclinometers and take soil samples, Rogers said.
Rogers said that although he didn’t want to come to any conclusions yet because the investigation is just beginning, the “street is all blocked off, and there is obvious separation on the driveways.”
“We noticed the subsidence at the top of Avola,” Brehm said. “We noticed a pipe leaking back in August of 2006, for two weeks, and the city eventually fixed the leak and patched it. A total of six times it was fixed.”
According to Brehm, there were leaks all along the road, followed by movement.
“We got assurances the problem would be taken care of,” Brehm said.
“Then I had a voicemail from the city water department saying they had limited resources, and then in July I got a short letter saying not only are they not responsible for fixing the problem but they are going to install high lines,” he said.
The water department shut off their water main and installed the 2-inch high lines “” above-ground water pipes “” into the gutters on the street, Brehm said.
Now, Brehm and most of the other homeowners wait while the lawsuit continues. But he said this isn’t the only contact he’s had with the city and the land sliding. Several years ago, a small slide occurred that the city quickly repaired, Brehm said.
The water main connecting the hillside to Avola broke seven years ago, resulting in slippage. The city repaired its pipes, Brehm said, and “put in tie-back slabs against the slope from the clubhouse to my home. They completely repaired our slope and our canyon.”
In addition to repairing the slide and the water pipes, he said the city also continued to water the canyon for three years and “never once commented that it was private property.”
“It was the difference in administrations,” Brehm said. “I just want them to do what’s right. As a taxpayer I really resent the attitude they’ve taken.”
When cracks in Via Avola’s surface appeared to worsen shortly after the Oct. 3 landslide on the east side of Mount Soledad, the city declared that it had no responsibility for cause or repair since the cul-de-sac street is private.