Jerry Bennett liked rock, but not the roll.
Along the route of the proposed CA241 transportation corridor sat
a very large boulder that posed a logistics problem for Bennett. The new toll road was destined to go right
alongside the ground on which it sat, and the engineer hated to see it go in
the name of progress.
The transportation corridor had been planned for decades, but
actual construction of the south county short-cut to the 91 never found funding
until the early 1990’s, when construction began. There were the customary
environmental fights, and even a controversy involving some native American
burial grounds. Today disagreement still
continues regarding the final stretch originally intended to connect the 241 to
the 5 freeway by San Onofre. It is unlikely to ever resolve.
The road provides plenty of visual interest along the way with
sweeping views toward the ocean, and layers of various red and white materials
as it approaches the junction with CA91.
The toll road runs along much of the Irvine Ranch property that was
donated to the state to be preserved as open space, including a stretch above
Irvine called Tomato Springs, which we wrote about earlier.
Bennett was named construction manager of the project, and when he
discovered one particular boulder that was adjacent to his construction site,
he was impressed. Standing tall above
the construction site just to the east, Bennett thought the monolith needed to
be preserved, so as they worked around the adjacent land, he instructed workers
to do all they could to ensure the ground below it was well supported.
But that year, the storms were mighty, and one day workers reported
to duty only to discover that the ground below the stone washed away, and the
boulder had rolled into the canyon below. Bennett’s pet project was destroyed. Sadly,
he passed away before the road was completed.
Yet you will note that today it appears the stone has
remained. Appearances can be deceiving,
because the original rock that fell could not be recovered. To honor Bennett, three workers volunteered
and hauled materials and tools to the top of the hill. There they reconstructed the thing, in much
the same way movie sets are produced. Made from concrete and completely hollow,
they matched the new rock perfectly to its surroundings, and they dubbed it
“Bennett’s Rock.”
It has been twenty-plus years since it was built, and Bennett’s
rock still stands. You can see it on the east side, south
of Santiago Canyon from either direction.
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