MONTHLY DINNER MEETING
Date: Tuesday, October 14, 2003
Location: Steven's Steak House,
5332 Stevens Place, Commerce, CA
Time: 5:30 p.m. – Social Hour;
7:00 p.m. – Dinner;
8:00 p.m. – Presentation
Reservations: Call (949) 253-5924, ext. 564, or email Brian Villalobos,
by
12:00 p.m., Friday, October 10, 2003
SPEAKER: Ms. Amanda Elioff (Parsons Brinckerhoff) & Mr. Carl Kim (Mactec)
TITLE: Geotechnical Issues During Design of the East-Side Light Rail Transit System in East Los Angeles
ABSTRACT
The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is implementing a 7-mile light rail
transit (LRT) line in the Eastside Corridor, connecting Downtown Los Angeles with low- to moderate-income
communities in East Los Angeles. The proposed system would include eight stations and will traverse
eastward from Union Station (the city's major intermodal hub, serving intercity, commuter, and regional
rail service, as well as local and express bus services) along Alameda Street through the City Terrace,
Belvedere, and East Los Angeles communities of unincorporated Los Angeles County.
The project would terminate at Atlantic Boulevard, where a 200-space park-and-ride facility is planned.
The project is primarily at-grade, with a nearly 2-mile mid-section underground in tunnel. The
underground portion is proposed to be constructed both as a cut-and-cover structure, and as bored,
twin tunnels. There are currently 60 heavily used bus routes operating in this highly transit dependent
corridor, and the proposed project will provide travel time savings and increased transit capacity to
residents accessing jobs in Downtown Los Angeles and other employment destinations along the MTA Red
line, the light rail system, and rapid bus routes.
The geotechnical portion of the study included analysis of the Coyote Pass escarpment, a fold in east
Los Angeles first proposed by Michael Oskin and Kerry Sieh, with quantification of the amount of
deformation that the tunnel in this area may experience at or near the hinge of the fold.
BIO
Ms. Amanda Elioff is the Supervising Tunnel Engineer on this project, and Mr. Carl Kim is the Project
Manager for the Geotechnical studies of the project's underground portion. The presenters will discuss
the geotechnical aspects of the project, with emphasis on the results of the geotechnical explorations,
which included an investigation of the Coyote Pass escarpment and the underlying buried thrust fault(s).
