Hearst Castle access road project is underway. How are repairs going?
Repairs beneath the access road to Hearst Castle in San Simeon are progressing faster than expected.
John Madonna Construction of San Luis Obispo began work in late July to repair storm damage at more than 27 culvert locations along the 5-mile road that leads from the visitor center to William Randolph Hearst’s former hilltop estate.
Madonna and Dan Falat, superintendent of the California State Parks district that includes the Castle, said via phone that they’re encouraged by the project’s progress so far.
Neither was willing to estimate when the work might be done. But Falat has previously said that repairs could take until the end of 2021 or early 2022.
“I’m very happy with the progress they’ve made,” Falat said of construction crews. “It’s a very complicated project, and everybody from the contractors to our staff and the state have done an outstanding job of coming together. The cooperative nature, the ability for us to work together well and get the job done has been outstanding.”
Work to fix access road involves tree removal, rock counting
Hearst Castle has been closed to the public since March 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and widespread storm damage to the steep, meandering road that leads to Hearst Castle.
According to Falat, a $32,000 road analysis in late February showed 27 culverts under the top 2.25 miles of the roadway needed repairs or replacement.
The subterranean culverts run perpendicular to the roadway — mostly two separated lanes — with many of the drainages going under stonework, trees and the historic Hearst Pergola, an arbor-covered promenade through which Hearst and his guests used to walk and ride horses.
John Madonna Construction was awarded the nearly $8 million contract to remove and replace storm drain piping, as well as repair the pavement at those culverts.
Despite some setbacks, “We’re substantially farther along than what we thought we would be” at this time, Madonna said.
“It’s been going really well,” he added.
Crews had to track and remove decades-old clay pipe from the ground and creek beds up to 800 feet down a steep, heavily forested cliff.
The drain system pipes that originally started with the culverts on the side of the uphill half of the split road, ran under the Pergola and the rock retaining wall that keeps the elevated area in place, then surfaced on the downhill side of the other half of the road.
Sometimes those pipes ended way down the hillside.
“We were chasing the old storm drain pipes, 24- to 30-inch clay pipes, up to 30 inches long that weighed about 900 pounds each,” he said. “Sometimes they were buried up to 10 feet deep, other times on the surface and sometimes in a creek.”
“One of our biggest fears was having an accident in an area where we really couldn’t see the topography,’ Madonna added. “It was difficult getting it done, but that was what propelled us.”
Subcontractors JTS in Arroyo Grande and SLOmow Mastication and Brush Clearing in San Luis Obispo were crucial to brush and tree removal efforts, he said.
According to Madonna, SLOmow owner Robert E. Lee “went charging through our project to get it done so he could head off for the next California emergency in the big northern California fires.”
In the process, the crews have had to remove “substantially” fewer trees than originally estimated, Madonna and Falat said.
They placed a special emphasis on retaining native species, especially the oaks and larger, stately pines.
Many of the other trees on the hilltop, while they have historical significance, were imported by Hearst during the decades when the Castle was under construction.
The county will require mitigation replantings, Falat said, but he’s not sure yet what that ratio will be.
Also subcontracting on the road repair project are Papich Construction and Baker Construction, both of Arroyo Grande.
Although Madonna Construction often competes against those firms for bids on contracts, “I’ve really enjoyed working with them,” Madonna said. “It’s been a really great experience for everybody.”
Changes have been made “on the fly,” he said. “And we’ve had setbacks with materials and deliveries, some from the (coronavirus) pandemic effect” on the supply chain.
Some materials and delivery issues, Madonna explained, hinged on huge shipments of high-intensity polyethylene pipe, concrete boxes, slurry backfill, steel pipes and riprap.
The contractor also discussed the problems of working around and under what he called “the largest, longest pergola in the world.”
“Hearst used to ride his horses through there,” Madonna said, and walking through it now, “you feel like you’re in ancient Rome.”
Along with Chuck Boysden Masonry of Atascadero, Madonna Construction crews used blue tape to “label each rock and take photos,” Madonna explained.
“Therefore, if the rock wall might be compromised,” he said, they had a plan in place to remove the rocks, clean them “and replace the wall in the same configuration as it was in the first place.”
Madonna added that assistance from Hearst Ranch and State Parks personnel has been integral to getting the job done as fast and as safely possible.
The project “has been a challenge, and we went into it being very uncomfortable” with various aspects and risks, Madonna said. “In contracting, it can go good or bad.”
“We’re very excited about the progress we’ve been able to achieve, and the efforts and cooperation from people” such as Falat and Ben Higgins, director of agricultural operations for Hearst Corp., Madonna said.
“I think we’re on the end stretch right now, and it’s a much more comfortable position than when you start something challenging and you’re not sure how well it will go,” Madonna said. “I feel very positive and happy with the project. It’s been a wonderful project to work on.
“Everybody has the same goal.”
When will Hearst Castle reopen?
Although road issues have played a big role in the decision to keep Hearst Castle closed for now, COVID-19 has also been a factor.
There’s been a recent surge in cases, hospitalizations and deaths tied to the rapid spread of the Delta variant of the coronavirus, Falat noted.
At this point, “it’s really tough to guesstimate” when the Castle might reopen, he said. “We’ve been so focused on the road component.”
A lot of the decision hinges on statewide guidelines for museums, he said.
“We’re definitely part of that museum circle,” Falat said, “and we’re seeing some museums open and some are closed. We’re definitely unique, as everybody knows.”
“I’m still confident we’ll be able to open once the road project is complete, and tours will resume then,” he said, “but there could be constraints on the number of tours per day and number of people on each tour.
Meanwhile, local state park campgrounds remain popular. “We’re still getting high camping activity,” Falat said.
“It’s always busy on the coast. But it doesn’t seem to be as big as it was,” when people were driven by a “renewed sense of the outdoors, maybe having recreational equipment they didn’t have two years ago,” he said. “That’s what parks are for, the outdoor experience.”
This story was originally published September 24, 2021 at 12:59 PM.
