Cow Camp Road – Phase 2A

The project provides connectivity within the growing Rancho Mission Viejo housing community, located between Ladera Ranch and San Juan Capistrano. The construction of a new bridge and the extension of Cow Camp Road across a canyon paves the way for development.

The 1,340-linear-foot, cast-in-place box girder bridge is 54 feet in the air over the undeveloped valley. Work included grading, roadway, retaining walls, sidewalks, curbs, and gutters, along with dry utility installation, drainage improvements, water and sewer improvements, signing, striping, and landscaping.

The terrain of the canyon—steep hillsides on both sides and sloping downward towards the bridge from the north—created significant challenges with running water during the wet winter months. To protect the environment and the falsework, elevated falsework pads were used to disrupt the natural water flow through the canyon and separate water from the work.

Located in the middle of the historic Rancho Mission Viejo—an active 23,000-acre ranch and farm known to locals simply as ‘The Ranch’—work was planned and sequenced to ensure adequate access to the ranch was maintained.