Mulholland Failure
 

It was disconcerting hearing how Mul will be closed indefinitly.
However after SSB said Good Bye Mul and RIP I had no choice but to walk the Racecourse this afternoon.

I drove around two Road Closed sections and parked with the emergency lights blinking. This was just past Bowmont Drive in the Racecourse.

As I got out of my car and started to walk towards Skyline Drive, a Ranger pulled up nearby and told me to come to his truck. He explained the dangerous situation and told me to stay out of the failure area.

I calmly explained that I was the Senior Geologist for the Mulholland in Restoration and Recovery Consortium, The MIRRC.
I was there to study the land movement and photo document it.

The Ranger said, "in that case, go ahead! Be careful not to get to close to the edge of the slide.
So off I went to inspect the entire Course.


Here some big Barracades keep anyone away from the failure area located just beyond.
The failure is located in the lower part of the Sweeper and is confined to a small area.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1266886680.jpg

A detail of the undermining of the road surface after gullying from embankment failure.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1266886698.jpg

These failures are not uncommon on Mulholland since it was built by a cut and fill method that leaves unconsolodated fill on the road's outer edge.
The fill is not competant and will wash away with concentrated drainage as in this case.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1266886714.jpg

Here are the Baracades on the other side of the failure.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1266886734.jpg

Another section of Road Closed signs before Carls.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1266886750.jpg

Mulholland Failure continued
 

It sure was desolate and quiet on Mulholland. Had the whole Racecourse to myself. Very unique Mulholland Experience.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1266886832.jpg

Looking towards Deadmans.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1266886848.jpg

Looking towards Skyline you can see the officer and Baracades keeping folks from proceeding west on Mulholland.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1266886863.jpg

Beautiful!
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1266886879.jpg

The Valley looked clear and clean from the recent winds. It's an awesome view from Mulholland isn't it?
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1266886896.jpg

Thanks for venturing out there, Geologist Banning. Man, I miss it already.

Is there truth in that statement, just curious?

I've got an orange CalTrans jumpsuit, if anyone needs one...

Yeah, I guess Banning qualifies as senior geologist of the MIRRC.

Geology Degree
 

I graduated California State University Northridge in 1986 with a Bachelor of Science in Geology.

My particular field of study was Paleontology. I did my senior thesis on the Coso Mountains vertebrates concentrating on Ice Age Mammals. It was there I discovered Pleisihippus which was a small miniature horse that lived in California about 12,000 years ago.

With a strong back-round in Geochemistry, after graduating I started a business making crystal growing kits for the school system in Northern California.

I met my wife after graduating and my house fell to the ground in the 1994 quake so I never finished my Master's Degree. I was planning to go on to earn a PhD and by now would have been Dr. Banning if I had been able to finish.

MIRRC does stand for something else. It's Derek's creation and was born from this thread, the book, and our meetings at Truckstop while re-building the Carrera.

and btw...Geologists don't wear orange jumpsuits, they want to blend in. Thanks anyway Alereck.

I would say your background on Geology is rock solid! -sorry I had to do it

Chris, just for fun, I have to call Department of Redundancy Department on that one. :)

Unless "miniature horse" is a special designation used within the field of paleontology, and there are small and large miniature horses, in which case, I probably owe you dinner and a case of beer.

YouTube - Tanner Foust Street Drift: Mulholland Teaser

Don't know how to imbed.. Tanner Foust a lucky SOB to get Mul blocked off for this little stunt.

It's most likely the "snake" section of Mulholland Hwy by the Rock Store in Malibu. Definitely NOT the race course or any other section of Mulholland Drive. Still, I'm interested.

How long has that bit between the Rock Store and the Overlook been known as "The Snake?" I've only heard that term recently (on that RockStorePhotos site). Is it some attempt to make it known, like "The Tail of the Dragon" and that Killboy photog dude?

Noah, I've been running Mulholland west on motorcycles since I got my license and that was 35 years ago. Never heard it called the Snake until about 6 months ago. Have no idea who gave it that name.

Drift'n Mul
 

Here it is embedded...nice drifts

<object width="560" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Ut3kFzqau4M&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Ut3kFzqau4M&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object>

Horse's Beer
 

Amoung the Miniature Horses the size does vary but mostly due to gender and age.
Thanks for catching the redundance, I stand corrected. Now I owe you the beer. ;)

Shell gasoline
 

From my Ferrari friends...turn up the volume and enjoy. :cool:

<object width="560" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/1_kwxzU4wL4&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/1_kwxzU4wL4&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object>

Well, whoever gave it that name: It's pretty fukking lame.

There. Got that off my chest. Carry on.

Rain expected.
 

One would think it might be a good idea to put down some sandbags so that tonight's big rain doesn't wreck Mulholland worse. The failure is in a low area where water would tend to go. It needs to be diverted to avoid a really big problem occurring.

The city says it has no money to fix Mulholland but ignoring the problem will make it much worse. (Notice that the failures near European Straight and Java were fixed immediately).

It appears as if the city wants Mulholland to be closed in that area. Didn't they hear that the racing stopped about 25 years ago? Must be those Tour Busses and Paparzzi that's upsetting them. lol

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1267197129.jpg

btw Alereck, you might want to consider editing your last post to "pretty damn lame" or similar. Your call.

Wasn't Mulholland designated a "Scenic Highway" some years back? Maybe there's some money to be had from that.

I remember when they "temporarily" closed the backside road in Griffith Park many years ago for repair (Mt. Hollywood Drive? We used to race motorcycles there in the 1960's - '80s).

It's still closed! I sure hope that's not Mulholland's fate.

I did a Porsche driving event at the Hawthorne airport yesterday and one of the guests was wearing a MIRRC sweatshirt. I chatted with him for a bit but I did not catch his name...


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1267214366.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1267214414.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1267214435.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1267214451.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1267214490.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1267214513.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1267214525.jpg

Oh ..yeah. There were some airplanes there also..

Looks like they wised up, rumour has it FIA curbing is being considered for historical perspective;)
Funding for Mulholland Drive sinkhole repairs set to be approved | L.A. NOW | Los Angeles Times

You guys should be lapping by spring, now in my hood it's a little more complex.
Rambla just west of CAMP 8
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a1...2/DSC00827.jpg