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Landslide Program Management
City of Rancho Palos Verdes
The Emergency Deep Dewatering Well (DDW) Project in Rancho Palos Verdes, California, is a critical stabilization initiative aimed at slowing and stabilizing land movement within the Portuguese Bend Landslide Complex (PBLC). Hout Construction Services, Inc., DBA Hout Engineering (HCS) is serving as the City’s Program Manager for various landslide mitigation projects, including this emergency dewatering effort. HCS helped City staff present to City Council for a local emergency declaration; procure the appropriate engineering, environmental, and well-drilling contracting firms; and implement the project under a fast-tracked, emergency timeline. In addition, HCS prepared and submitted on behalf of the City a FEMA Grant application and secured $23.3 million for the program. Our on-site Construction Manager and his support team from HCS worked on behalf of the City with the contractor and has installed 11 deep dewatering wells, test boreholes, and monitoring wells throughout the landslide area to extract artesian groundwater—a primary driver of slope instability and root cause of the landslide. The wells varied in depth and complexity of instrumentation, such as piezometers, shape arrays, and inclinometers, and extended the wells to depths of more than 450 feet below ground level. As of January 27, 2025, the system was extracting approximately 755 gallons per minute (1.1 million gallons per day). As of March 2025, DDWs were extracting water at 540 gallons per minute and have removed more than 170 million gallons since inception. The ground water was tested, treated, and mostly discharged to the ocean as clean water. Early results from weekly GPS monitoring indicate that land movement has either ceased or significantly slowed in areas, such as the Seaview Neighborhood and the Portuguese Bend Beach Club, with reductions in both horizontal and vertical displacement falling below instrument error. Additionally, groundwater pressure has measurably decreased in the vicinity of the DDWs. While the newer wells near Abalone Cove are still being evaluated, initial data suggests a positive trend correlating groundwater extraction with reduced ground movement, supporting the project's overall goal of stabilizing the landslide complex. The PBLC has been the largest and most active landslide in North America for the last 68 years. HCS is extremely proud of the collective efforts led by the City and our Program Management Team to substantially slow down the Landslide in the Rancho Palos Verdes peninsula.
HCS provides comprehensive engineering and support services (staff augmentation) in the areas of program management, construction management, geotechnical support, environmental documentation, civil engineering and surveying, project controls and coordination (cost and schedule management) and full electronic program documentation.
Portuguese Bend Emergency Landslide Remediation Project
City of Rancho Palos Verdes
HOUT collaborated closely with engineers, stakeholders, and contractors to implement critical landslide stabilization measures. Our team provided construction management services for both the Winterization Program and the Deep Dewatering Well Program.
The Winterization Program was developed to minimize surface water intrusion during storm events. This effort included multiple projects, most notably extensive earthwork within Upper Altamira Canyon, where a 60-inch diameter HDPE pipe was installed and buried to redirect stormwater flow and reduce infiltration into the landslide area.
The Deep Dewatering Well Program evolved from an exploratory borehole investigation. Through this program, our team oversaw the installation of wells ranging from 220 to 360 feet deep, with casing diameters between 8 and 12 inches. These wells are designed to extract artesian groundwater and safely discharge it to the ocean following required testing, helping reduce subsurface pressure contributing to landslide movement.
Construction activities required the use of heavy equipment, including drilling rigs, water trucks, pumps, storage tanks, excavators, and specialized support equipment. This one-of-a-kind project is being implemented as an emergency response to address the largest active landslide in North America.
Project Management and Construction Management Services for Transit Facilities Projects
Orange County Transportation Authority
As the PM/CM for OCTA’s transit facilities projects, Hout Construction Services, Inc. is responsible for managing the projects at five bus maintenance and operations bases (bus bases), five transportation centers, and two park-and-ride facilities. The individual construction projects for each facility varies in the range of $100,000-$2 million each. OCTA has identified over twenty (20) individual projects to be completed by 2021.
The Hout Construction Services team responsibilities include full project management/construction management services, agency coordination, document control, construction planning, project controls and construction oversight.
Metrolink Construction Management Program
Southern California Regional Rail Authority
Mr. Hout was responsible for Metrolink’s construction management program in Southern California. He assisted SCRRA in constructing many of their heavy rail track improvements and several station development projects. The Construction Management Team under Mr. Hout’s leadership provided thorough constructability reviews, full service management and inspection experts, office and project engineers, track and station professionals, administrators and field office facilities to oversee construction of SCRRA’s 300 miles of track and station improvements.
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