Emergency repairs to an eroded section of bank have helped shore up a maintenance road and popular trail along Stevens Creek in Mountain View.
Last winter, following heavy storms, a portion of the bank of Stevens Creek eroded, threatening the Stevens Creek Trail and the maintenance road that run alongside it. The damage led to the closing of the trail while the city of Mountain View completed a temporary detour trail.
The temporary trail was finished in June, and in the meantime the Santa Clara Valley Water District had begun preliminary work on a permanent repair that is to be completed in 2018. However, in August, the maintenance access road eroded, as the bank was unstable because of moisture in the soil. This time the bank fell into Stevens Creek compromising the safety of the recently completed temporary trail detour.
The water district recognized the temporary trail and adjacent property needed to be protected urgently to prevent further erosion of the bank, so on Aug. 18, water district CEO Norma Camacho declared an emergency.
The emergency declaration allowed the water district to reduce the public bidding process time to get a contractor on board quickly in compliance with FEMA’s requirements and to prevent any further erosion of the bank and allow for safe passage along the temporary trail, which reopened in November. The approximate cost for the emergency repair work is $650,000.
The emergency repair involved constructing a soldier pile wall system to help shore up the bank, prevent further erosion to the maintenance access road and preserve the trail. Later this year, construction of the long-term repair work will begin. This could include a reinforced soil slope to withstand similar flood events.
The long-term trail work is anticipated to go out for bid in March 2018.
Valley Water News 
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