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Re: Where precisely does the Crazy Train to Palmdale cross the Garlock?
Author: FUD
Date: 10-18-2019 - 15:49
Our knowledge of the Garlock at the time PB did their environmental work is pretty much the same as it is today. SCEDC Contrary to sscottys statement it's actually SOUTH of Ridgecrest - it terminates the south end of the aftershock zone of the recent quakes there.
None of that is particularly relevant to the "safety" of the HSR route. Even the Mousehole under Tejon Ranch would need to surface at the top of the hill to cross the San Andreas, very close to the place where the Garlock hits it. Several Tejon-vicinity alternatives were in fact evaluated. None of them are a "base tunnel" that would have to punch through the San Andreas; nobody was that crazy.
About the only recent change is that a paper published on Oct 15 shows that, since the July 2019 Ridgecrest quakes, a 20-mile segment of the Garlock has "woken up" and started creeping. While interesting, it's not an indication of an imminent large earthquake on the Garlock, and in any case isn't where HSR is to be located. From a scientific standpoint, of course, it's interesting.
As I noted above, crossing a major fault is an engineering issue, not a route- or project-killer; one locates the line where it's needed, then designs for the consequences. You can't get from N Calif to S Calif without crossing the San Andreas, Garlock, or both at least once.
None of that is particularly relevant to the "safety" of the HSR route. Even the Mousehole under Tejon Ranch would need to surface at the top of the hill to cross the San Andreas, very close to the place where the Garlock hits it. Several Tejon-vicinity alternatives were in fact evaluated. None of them are a "base tunnel" that would have to punch through the San Andreas; nobody was that crazy.
About the only recent change is that a paper published on Oct 15 shows that, since the July 2019 Ridgecrest quakes, a 20-mile segment of the Garlock has "woken up" and started creeping. While interesting, it's not an indication of an imminent large earthquake on the Garlock, and in any case isn't where HSR is to be located. From a scientific standpoint, of course, it's interesting.
As I noted above, crossing a major fault is an engineering issue, not a route- or project-killer; one locates the line where it's needed, then designs for the consequences. You can't get from N Calif to S Calif without crossing the San Andreas, Garlock, or both at least once.
