6-Month Telegraph Hill Rockslide Prevention Project Begins In San Francisco
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS)— San Francisco Public Works began a six-month project this week to stabilize the crumbling cliff at Telegraph Hill below Coit Tower to improve the stability of the hillside and to prevent future rockslides.
The $3.9 million rock-slope safety-improvement project is a critical measure for the historic hillside, which has seen rockslides during the rainy season before and is a popular lookout spot.
In 2012, boulders came crashing down and crushed a car in a previous rockslide that forced the partial evacuation of an apartment building.
Public Works Spokeswoman Rachel Gordon said workers are reinforcing the slide zone.
"Crews are going to go in and scrape away any of the loose rock they can get to, haul it out of there and start putting in hundreds of anchors, some of them 30-feet-long. We're looking at this as a long-term fix. At some point it might have to be shored up again, but this is not a temporary fix," Gordon said.
The downside for neighborhood residents is that the work done to protect their homes will be noisy and is likely to cause more parking problems than usual.