LOS ANGELES COUNTY -- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has completed restoration of Temescal Canyon Road in Pacific Palisades and returned it to the City of Los Angeles. The road was used as a temporary staging site for debris removal following the January 2025 southern California wildfires, the largest debris removal mission in USACE history.
USACE, along with its contractors, ECC and Security Paving, and officials from the City of Los Angeles, conducted a final walk-through inspection of the road Aug. 4 to ensure it’s ready to receive traffic.
“We know how important Temescal Canyon Road is to the Pacific Palisades community as a main artery in this neighborhood, not only for regular traffic but also having it ready for students returning for the 2025 school year,” said Col. Jeff Palazzini, commander of the Palisades Emergency Field Office. “We thank our partners at FEMA, the State of California, Los Angeles County, the City of Los Angeles and our contractors for helping us return this road to pre-fire conditions for the Palisades community.
During the second week of February, USACE, in coordination with the state of California and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, began debris removal for private residential properties in the Eaton and Palisades' wildfire impact zones.
The Temescal Canyon Road site began operating Feb. 23 and received its last truckload May 27. Processing the debris at the site reduced trucking operations and sped up the recovery effort.
Trucks delivered cleaned concrete and metal from properties within Los Angeles County to the site, where it was temporarily stored before being processed onsite. Onsite equipment crushed the concrete and bailed the metal, so it could be recycled and re-entered into the supply chain for future use.
Total concrete debris processed:
147,00 tons (12,600 truckloads)
Total metal debris processed:
11,800 tons (6,500 truckloads)