Capturing Construction in Photos

To our construction teams, Robin is a familiar face who frequently visits the active construction sites to shoot some candid photos of construction and our hard workers. Little did we  know that Robin not only works to document the construction progress but she gains much deserved national recognition while she is at it. Right here in Sunol Valley, Robin’s photo of the New Irvington Tunnel Project made the Top Ten for the Engineering News Record (ENR) 2015 Year in Construction Photo Contest. This is a prestigious international construction photography competition, and we are extremely proud that Robin’s photo of our own tunnel was a winner!

About Robin

Robin Scheswohl moved to the Bay Area in 2003 from Philadelphia, PA where she studied photography and later worked with corporate and wedding photographers. She’s been with the SFPUC since 2007, working in the Construction Management Bureau and the Engineering Archives. She is responsible for cataloging and preserving thousands of historic images dating back to the 19th century, as well as documenting the Water System Improvement Program (WSIP) construction projects. SFPUC Engineering Archives Photography has curated public exhibits at City Hall, at the San Francisco International Airport, and the SF American Institute of Architects (AIA) Headquarters. The images are used extensively by the SFPUC and appear in books, periodicals, environmental and engineering studies.

Here is Robin filming at the Bay Tunnel, which is the first tunnel constructed under San Francisco Bay.  Congratulations, Robin!

Construction Activities Resume

Construction activities for the Calaveras Dam Replacement Project (CDRP) and the New Irvington Tunnel Project (NITP) will resume today, February 16, after observing the President's Day holiday. 

Happy Holidays and Best Wishes for 2016!

2015 has been a busy year in the Sunol Valley! We are proud that construction was completed on the New Irvington Tunnel and the San Antonio Backup Pipeline projects. Thank you for your patience with construction activities throughout the year.

Even though the Water System Improvement Program overall is 90 percent complete, our crews are still hard at work this holiday season for the Calaveras Dam Replacement Project. Below is the construction schedule:

• Regular construction hours: Monday, December 28 through Thursday, December 31
• Construction will be suspended: Friday, January 1 through Sunday, January 3
• Regular construction hours resumes: Monday, January 4

Best Wishes for 2016! See you around the Valley!

Heat and High Fire Danger!

You do not need us to tell you that the weather has been unseasonably hot. Daytime temperatures are 10 to 20 degrees above seasonal averages throughout the Bay Area, according to the National Weather Service.  

Because of the high heat and low moisture, our Natural Resources and Lands Management Division has issued a high fire alert for the Peninsula /Alameda Watershed lands that we own. 

If you are driving in the area, please remember:

• Do not pull your car over to the side of the road in the grass. The heat from the underside of your car could quickly spark a grassfire. This is all too common.
• Please do not smoke, hold lit cigarettes out the window, or dispose of cigarette butts onto the side of the road.
• Please do not operate machinery in dry grasses that might generate sparks, including mowers.

For tips on how to stay safe in this heat, please visit the National Weather Service’s website: http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/heat/index.shtml.

Please stay hydrated and stay cool out there!

Please do not operate machinery that might generate sparks, including mowers.

Construction Advisory: New Irvington Tunnel Irvington Portal

We wanted to inform you of some very important construction activity affecting the neighborhood at the Irvington Portal site off Mission Boulevard. 

Irvington Portal work August 27 – September 15: 
As part of the process of preparing the tunnel to be brought into service, we will need to provide additional tunnel ventilation to our construction crews at the Irvington Portal site. The equipment will begin mobilizing in the area on August 27, 2014, and work should be complete by September 15, 2014. The ventilation equipment, which includes a fan and generator, will operate 24 hours a day. Cooling air is needed for crews who are lining the tunnel with a cement mortar to prepare it for being put into service. The sound barrier walls will keep the noise to a minimum and the contractor will install additional noise reduction measures.

Disinfection Process starting October 2014: 
Starting the first week of October, we will begin the disinfection process to bring the New Irvington Tunnel into service. In order to disinfect the tunnel, crews will need to stage generators and lights for the 24 hour a day filling/disinfection. The set up will occur during day light hours. The filling/disinfection process will take 2-4 days to complete once it begins. The expected night time activities should be limited to three nights.

What Happens Next?
The New Irvington Tunnel is anticipated to be in service delivering water sometime in November. The above ground work and restoration will continue into early 2015. These include final installations and burial of the new portal facilities, construction of a new security bunker at the existing tunnel portal (on top of the hill), and site restoration work, planting and fencing. The remaining sound walls will be removed after the entire site is restored.

Project Background
The New Irvington Tunnel Project is part of the $4.6 billion Water System Improvement Program (WSIP) to repair, replace, and upgrade our system’s aging pipelines, tunnels, and dams. The new 3.5 mile long tunnel will provide a seismically-designed connection between water supplies from the Sierra Nevada Mountains and the Alameda Watershed to Bay Area water distribution systems. Final construction is expected to be complete in 2015. 

Questions / Concerns?
We greatly appreciate your patience. Please call our 24-Hour Answer Line at 866-973-1476 or email mle@sfwater.org or blauppe@sfwater.org if you have any questions.
Follow us online at sfwater.org/sunolvalley

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The WSIP Turns 10!

This year the Water System Improvement Program (WSIP) turns 10! One of the largest infrastructure projects in the nation, the WSIP is repairing, replacing and upgrading our aging water infrastructure to ensure we can deliver water to customers following an earthquake. We’ve gotten a little nostalgic about how far we’ve come in the last 10 years, and we would like to share this video with you.



Now 80 percent complete, the WSIP has already provided increased reliability to the water supply for customers as a result of the completion of some of the program’s major projects. The program has created over 6 million construction craft hours to date, employing more than 11,000 workers since 2007. Nearly half of those workers live in our four-county service area.

Calaveras Road Construction Advisory: 1/24/13 - 1/25/13 Truck Traffic

The Calaveras Dam Replacement Project will be expecting additional haul truck traffic on:

January 24 & January 25, 2013  just south of Interstate 680 to the project site approximately 4 miles past Geary Road.

·         Road remains open to the public

·         Haul trucks are expected from 7:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

·         Please drive and bike safely on the narrow portions of Calaveras Road Speed limit is 25 mph in construction zones

                                                                                                                                                                                     

For More Information:

24 hour-Answer Line 866-973-1476

Email us:

mle@sfwater.org or blauppe@sfwater.org

Follow us online at: Sfwater.org/sunolvalley

Seashells and Secant Piles

A recent trip to the Sunol Valley by SFPUC photographer Katherine DuTiel produced a photo that, by striking coincidence, looks remarkably like one taken on the Bay Division Pipeline Project on the Peninsula.

Look closely to see which is which!





Shown here is the receiving shaft of the Bay Division Pipeline micro tunnel section on the Peninsula. The project was forced to tunnel under a culturally and environmentally sensitive area at the end of this 9 mile pipeline. The secant wall in the shaft consists of a series of drilled piers filled with concrete. They are arranged concentrically to provide a continuous concrete wall that supports the shaft.



The Sunol Valley area was covered by the Pacific Ocean about 20 million years ago. Life along the old coast was similar to today, with abundant clams, mussels, sea worms and other invertebrate organisms living in the sand. The sandstone formation that represents the old ocean deposits is called the Temblor sandstone, and contains fossils from this old coastline. The photograph shown above is a fossil scallop collected by geologists at the Calaveras Dam Replacement Project.

Calaveras Dam Replacement Project Construction Contract Awarded

The construction contract for Calaveras Dam Replacement project was awarded on May 24, 2011 to Dragados, USA/Sukut Construction, Inc./Flatiron West Inc. joint venture for approximately $259 million.