The scale of what lies ahead is significant — with thousands of homes to rebuild, efficient movement of people and materials will be essential.
Our focus is on logistics. We envision staging areas for materials as well as people, once the demand is there, as well as a concrete plant (“batch plant”) that can mix and deliver a specific grade of concrete that will be more resistant to the post-fire soil, that will naturally be more corrosive than before. Concrete will be needed at the outset of the rebuilding process and will be a challenge to truck in because of sustained long wait times and delays in roadway access to the Palisades. Concrete is only able to remain enroute for three hours before it coagulates and becomes unuseful. The batch plant is a necessary part of our rebuilding process.
The Pali Recovery Coalition has an RFQ out to several Concrete companies that are familiar with the Palisades, and is supported in this process by the BOE and building professionals on the coalition. The concrete we propose to mix in Pacific Palisades, at a central location that can serve both Palisades North and Palisades South (dividing line at Temescal Canyon Riad), would be a mix that is specific to the Palisades rebuild and is infused with Pozzolans to accommodate foundations and caissons that will rest on soil that is impacted by fire and hence more corrosive to concrete due to elevated levels of gypsum and other minerals.
Further, a Pacific Palisades concrete plants will help save on an estimated millions of dollars in fees, which will otherwise be charged to local builders for delivery. These charges will be compounded by delays in ingress and egress as well distance. Palisades builders will further save on fees associated with early morning, late night, or weekend deliveries if our batch plant is within the community and can accommodate our request for fluid deliveries.
The reason for the fluidity of time and manner of delivery is because we propose that in areas of Pacific Palisades where the burn rate exceeds 70%, material deliveries can be made late at night or early in the morning in order to accommodate both swift rebuilding as well as reduced traffic/travel time. Repopulation in those areas will be minimal in the first few years of our rebuilding and, as such, the inconvenience of construction will be felt by few people – a circumstance that can help speed the rebuild of communities by implementing longer working hours for builders and extended delivery hours for material.
As an extension of more hours reserved for construction and a swift rebuilding of our hardest hit Palisadian neighborhoods, we have contemplated staging areas for workers to stay in the Palisades during the work week so the work of building can be hastened, and with the added benefit of taking cars off the road, reducing trips in and out of the Palisades, and ensuring that our neighbors across Los Angeles are not gridlocked and frustrated with us!
Truck trips as well as workers on the road leading in and out of Pacific Palisades can compound time delays. So, as we look ahead to the onset of rebuilding, we have also contemplated staging areas for not only materials but also for workers. Steel, lumber, plumbing and electric materials, fire-proof siding material and other materials as well as workers can be staged on flat lots in areas such as the Alphabet streets where lots are flat and usually small, Marquez flats where there has been almost complete devastation and the area lies close to Sunset Boulevard, and the Huntington where larger flat lots may serve a different purpose as rebuilding increases in the months ahead. Properties such as the Alma Real professional building and Paul Revere Middle School (during summer months) can also be utilized as staging areas, not only for materials, but for centralized services. Worker accommodations could potentially be created at beach parking lots, with shuttle services easing traffic through the hills.
For materials, sites like Malibu Feed Bin, the reel Inn and Westside Walldorf School offer areas that can be accessible to Malibu contractors as well, easing the load on PCH and enabling our neighbors to the north to rebuild alongside us.
Ralph’s, Gelson’s and other privately held lots that are cleared are already considering partnering with material or service providers to make their spaces useful as they prepare plans to rebuild and reestablish businesses in the Palisades. Roads such as Los Leones, which is long and easily secured, are under consideration by some, with the idea of minimizing costs for materials, reducing delivery times, and relieving the roads of unnecessary congestion. Neighboring rebuilding efforts in Malibu and Big Rock might present additional staging opportunities at places along PCH, and deeper into Malibu.
Traffic flow could be improved by routing morning deliveries eastbound into the Palisades, and afternoon exits westbound out of Chautauqua. A consultant on logistics and optimal mobility patterns for traffic flow can be consulted for better planning and an authority for implementation must be devised, that is accountable to local powers who are vested in our recovery.
A local concrete plant is also being discussed as a way to significantly cut down on costs and delivery times. Though still in early stages, an RFP (Request for Proposals) could eventually be issued to explore feasibility.
We’re also looking into innovative ideas — from drone or helicopter deliveries for difficult locations to encouraging unused lots to host temporary housing or refuse bins — all aimed at easing the burden on our streets and speeding up recovery.
