Dames & Moore office memorandum from Hank Klehn to Bob Hicks, John Wise, and Al Smoots dated 29 September 1970 concerning potential parking garage site.
Research Database
Klehn to Hicks et al.
Title
Klehn to Hicks et al.
Item ID
2013.10.31.003
Type
document
Period
1970-09-29
Creator
Hank Klehn
Location
Mineral King Preservation Society
Extent
2 8.5 x 11 in. pages
Places Referenced
Mineral King, Silver City, High Bridge Creek drainage, East Fork Kaweah River
People Referenced
Occupations Referenced
geophysical engineer
Events Referenced
Other References
cog-assist railroad; highway, trestle bridges
Description
This is a white office memorandum from Dames & Moore, an engineering firm dated 29 September 1970. It is from Hank Klehn, an engineer, to Robert B. Hicks, Disney's Mineral King project manager, John Carroll Wise, a structural engineer for WED Enterprises, Inc., and Vernon Allen Smoots, a partner at Dames & Moore. The subject is 'Proposed Relocation of Parking Facility and Extension of Cog-Assist Railroad'. It describes the result of a reconnaissance tip Klehn and Hicks took to potential parking lot location 3600 ft. southeast of Silver City. This proposed site was east of the previously proposed site at the base of the High Bridge drainage and would require the proposed cog-assist railroad to be longer than originally planned. The document references the proposed location of the all-weather two-lane highway. It also proposes placing a portion of the cog-assist railway on the south side of the river to avoid the large High Bridge drainage about one mile upstream. This re-alignment would require two trestle bridges.
The memo was typed by a person with the initials 'rc' and signed by Hank Klehn.
Background
Due to the avalanche risk in Mineral King and environmental concerns, the project team had abandoned the initial plan to place an underground parking lot at the base of the Mineral King valley on Disney's 20-acre Cedar Point Discovery mine claim and associated 5-acre mill site claim. Instead, the team proposed a site adjacent to the High Bridge Creek drainage where visitors would park their vehicles and board a cog-assist railroad to the Mineral King valley. This document explores a subsequent proposal to locate the parking lot 360 ft. southeast of Silver City about 300-400 ft. north of the river and 100 ft. above the river bed. The analysis indicated that, due to the lack of solid granite, it would cost less to develop the parking lot on this site; however, transportation costs would increase due to a longer railroad and two trestle bridges.
Transcriptions
2013.10.31.003.a
OFFICE MEMORANDUM LOS ANGELES
To:
Bob Hicks, WDP1T
John Wise - WED
Walt Disney Productions
Al Smoots. D&M LA, EO
File:
6106-006-02
Walt Disney Productions
X-Ref:
Date: September 29, 1970
From: Hank Klehn, LA
Reply Required By:
Subject: Proposed Relocation of Parking Facility and Extension of Cog-Assist Railroad
Reference(s):
Bob Hicks and the writer made a reconnaissance of the proposed parking facility site, approximately 3600 feet southeast of Silver City. In addition, we inspected a portion of the cog-assist railroad alignment between the parking facility and the "High Bridge" drainage. The purpose of this visit was to evaluate the soil and geologic conditions as they might influence construction of the parking facility and railroad.
The proposed parking structure would be located approximately 300 to 400 feet north of the river and 100 feet or more above the stream bed. The site is at approximately Elevation 6500 feet, with the slope about 25 percent down to the south. The area is covered with a relatively dense growth of large trees.
The area is underlain by granitic rock (granodiorite). However, no large outcrops of hard, unweathered rock were observed. The State Division of Highways has performed a geophysical survey along a proposed highway alignment approximately 1200 feet north of the site, at an elevation approximately 600 feet above the site. The survey indicates there is about ten feet of soil or decomposed granite material. Beneath the soil and decomposed granite is highly weathered rock to a depth on the order of 60 to 80 feet below the ground surface. It is the opinion of the State Highway Department geologists that the upper 60 to 80 feet of soil could be excavated using D-9 cats with moderate to heavy ripping. The extent to which these conditions are present at the proposed parking structure site are not known at this time. However, there is probably 20 to 30 feet of soil and weathered rock which could be excavated without blasting.
It is recommended that a geophysical survey be performed at the parking structure site to measure the seismic velocity of the underlying soil and rock materials. This would permit a better evaluation of the depths to hard rock, and the overall excavation characteristics of the subsurface materials.
2013.10.31.003.b
Memo from Hank Klehn
9-29-70
Page 2
6106-006-02
WDP
It is unlikely that any large springs will be encountered in moderately deep excavations, since the drainage along the eastern edge of the proposed structure is quite deep, and probably provides subsurface drainage.
It appears from a brief inspection of portions of the proposed cog-assist railroad alignment that no unusual foundation or geologic problems exist. Because of the large drainage, (High Bridge) approximately a mile upstream from the proposed parking structure, a route which would take the railroad along the southern bank of the river has been proposed. If this route is selected, two trestles would be required to cross the river. It appears that there are suitable trestle sites. The clear span of the downstream trestle, however, could be considerable.
In evaluating the new parking structure location, it appears that the foundation and site development costs would be somewhat less than the originally proposed site adjacent to the High Bridge drainage. The cost for developing the necessary alignment for the cog railroad would have to be taken into account, including the trestles required to cross the river. In addition, consideration would have to be given to the utility (water and sewage) costs at this more distant location.
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