Irwindale Mine Reclamation Phase 3 and the ILWFP 40 Acre Fill Project
Irwindale sits on one of the largest aggregate deposits in Southern California, and the mining operations there carry correspondingly large reclamation obligations. Phase 3 of the mine reclamation, together with the forty acre fill project, was an engineered fill program at a scale most construction managers never encounter.
The construction challenge
Reclamation is earthwork where the usual estimating shortcuts stop working. Fill volumes are measured in millions of cubic yards placed over multiple years, to an engineered specification, with testing and documentation sufficient to demonstrate compliance with an approved reclamation plan and with the Surface Mining and Reclamation Act.
The material is the first problem. Import fill comes from offsite construction projects, which means source qualification, acceptance criteria, and a receiving operation capable of handling truck traffic at a rate that keeps the program economical. Material that fails acceptance has to be rejected at the gate, because placing it creates a compliance problem that is far more expensive to remedy than to prevent.
Placement is the second. Engineered fill at this scale requires lift control, moisture conditioning, compaction, and testing at a frequency that generates an enormous documentation record. Settlement monitoring and long term performance requirements extend the obligation well past the end of placement.
The third problem is that the mine keeps operating. Reclamation proceeds alongside active extraction, which means haul routes, work areas, and equipment have to be coordinated with production, and both operations have to satisfy air quality, dust, noise, and truck traffic permit conditions simultaneously.
Outcome and takeaway
Reclamation programs are documentation projects as much as earthwork projects. The record demonstrating that fill was placed to specification is what satisfies the lead agency, and it cannot be reconstructed afterward.
See mining and reclamation and Los Angeles County.
- Project
- Irwindale Mine Reclamation Phase 3 and the ILWFP 40 Acre Fill Project
- Location
- Irwindale, Los Angeles County, California
- Sector
- Mining and Reclamation
- Firm role
- Preconstruction and construction management services
- Licensure
- California A General Engineering Contractor #777345
- Further detail
- Additional project information is available on request. Contact us.
Scope elements
The categories of work this project type involves.
- Engineered fill placement at large volume
- Import material source qualification and acceptance
- Haul logistics and truck traffic management
- Lift control, moisture conditioning, and compaction
- Compaction testing and documentation
- Slope construction and final contour compliance
- Settlement monitoring coordination
- Reclamation plan and permit condition compliance
- Coordination with active mining operations
- Dust, air quality, and noise compliance
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