Construction Advisory: New Irvington Tunnel

To our Irvington Portal neighbors:
We wanted to inform you of some very important construction activity affecting your neighborhood.

Project Update
The New Irvington Tunnel is now in service delivering water to our 2.6 million Bay Area customers.  With the new tunnel in service, we were able to take the old Irvington tunnel out of service for inspection and repairs. Both tunnels will remain in service during normal operations. The construction team has begun restoration of the above ground facilities. The contractor has demobilized and restored the southern portion of the property. The contractor has removed the sound barriers (shown in yellow) on the south section of the site.  (See map)

Starting as early as June 15, 2015, the contractor will begin the process of removing the remainder of the sound barriers at the Irvington Portal project site.  The sound barriers will be removed at the locations shown on the map in blue. The sound wall removal work is estimated to be completed by early July 2015.

Map of sound walls to be removed

What to Expect:

-       The work involves removal of the panels and digging around the concrete foundation. Workers then remove the foundation and cut or pull the steel beams out. The excavated area would then be backfilled.

-       Noise associated with sound barrier removal will include the operation of heavy equipment, back up alarms, and concrete breakup. The soil backfill will also require compaction where the steel beams and foundations have been removed.

 

Removal Hours:
Sound barrier removal will only take place Monday through Friday from 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM.  We will continue to monitor noise and vibration in this area to ensure full compliance with strict noise and vibration standards set forth in the project’s Environmental Impact Report.

What’s Next

-      Installation and burial of permanent portal facilities and security improvements will be completed by the end of June 2015.

-      Once the sound walls are removed, topsoil will be trucked in and spread throughout the disturbed areas of the site.

-      Site restoration for the remainder of the site will be throughout the summer and be completed by early Fall 2015.  This includes paving, fencing and hydro-mulching of the disturbed areas. 

-      An iron wrought fence will be installed at the Mission Road entrance sometime in Fall 2015.

-      Full project completion for the New Irvington Tunnel is currently scheduled for Fall 2015.

Questions?
We sincerely appreciate your patience and cooperation.  Please call our 24-Hour Answer Line at 866-973-1476 if you have questions or comments or email mle@sfwater.org

 

Construction Advisory: New Irvington Tunnel Neighbors

We are preparing to bring the New Irvington Tunnel into service!
In order to do so, our crews need to fill and disinfect the tunnel and connecting pipelines in preparation for it to carry drinking water. Disinfection is a 24/7 process, and therefore, you will notice nighttime work at the Irvington Portal. Here’s more information:

Completion of Tunnel Cleaning and Installation of Dish-head
The Contractor will need to work inside the tunnel during night hours on Friday, Feb 13^th. They will also install the dish-heads starting this weekend inside the new portal structure located off Mission Blvd. in the City of Fremont.

Disinfection/ Flushing activities start week of February 16, 2015 
Beginning on Tuesday, Feb 17^th we will pump highly chlorinated water through the tunnel to disinfect it. Crews will be running pumps 24 hours a day and will be flushing the pipe for an estimated 5 to 7 days. Adjacent neighbors at Irvington Portal may hear the operations of the equipment. Passersby will notice lights and increased activity in the area. We will be installing sound blankets on the pipes to help minimize the water injection noise located near Mission Blvd entrance.

Future Work: Restoration work at Irvington Portal

After the tunnel is in service, the next step will be to construct a concrete structure around the existing tunnel portal up by the valve houses. Once the major construction work is completed, the Contractor will remove the remaining sound barrier walls. We will give the neighborhood advance notice before taking down the sound walls. Final grading, paving and installation of the wrought iron fence will be installed at the Mission Boulevard entrance by this summer.

Project Background

The New Irvington Tunnel Project is part of the $4.8 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 our Bay Area water distribution systems.  We anticipate being completely done in fall 2015. 

Questions / Concerns?

We greatly appreciate your patience. Contact us with any questions by calling our 24 hour answer line at 866-973-1476 or emailing mle@sfwater.org

Construction Advisory: New Irvington Tunnel Project

Dear Neighbor:
We wanted to inform you of some very important construction activity affecting your neighborhood at the Irvington Portal site off Mission Boulveard.

 

Irvington Portal work starting November 2, 2014: 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 November 2, 2014, and work should be complete in approximately one week. 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 measure.

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.

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

 .

Neighbors Catch up on the New Irvington Tunnel

Thank you to all of the community members who dropped by the New Irvington Tunnel Open House at the Mission Coffee House last week!  It was really great to see you.  For those of you who weren’t able to attend, here are the highlights as shared by the project team.

• The New Irvington Tunnel Project is currently 95% complete.
• The steel liner of the tunnel has been installed. We are welding and grouting the space between the tunnel lining and the outside of the tunnel to seal the tunnel off from groundwater intrusion.
• The 3.5 mile New Irvington Tunnel will be brought into service sometime this fall 2014, allowing us to take the old tunnel out of service for inspection and possible repairs.
•  Overall project completion is anticipated in fall 2015, soon after we complete site restoration of all of the above ground work.
• The New Irvington Tunnel runs parallel to the existing tunnel (which was built in 1932)  between the Sunol Valley south of Highway I-680 and Fremont, California. It provides a seismically designed connection between Sierra Nevada and Alameda Watershed water supplies and 2.6 million Bay Area customers.

We will be back out with another open house in a about three months, so we hope you can make the next one. 

Neighbors have some tunnel talk at the New Irvington Tunnel Open House

Local Cavers and the New Irvington Tunnel

They kindly attended one of our meetings, and we, in turn, attended their’ s. We were delighted to meet members of the National Speleological Society’s San Francisco Bay Chapter (SFBC) at one of our quarterly coffees in Fremont a while back.  Much to our surprise, they saw our New Irvington Tunnel (NIT) blog and became interested in the project. They invited us to speak at one of their future meetings about our man-made ‘cave’. Last week Project Manager David Tsztoo and Geologist Rebecca Fusee made a presentation at the SFBC general meeting and  ‘rocked out’ as it were by talking about the NIT Project and the complex geology it passes through.

The members of the SFBC Grotto sure know a thing or two about cave exploration, geology, conservation and organizing caving trips with fellow cavers. It was a great experience for our team to have the opportunity to share knowledge about tunneling with this group. Beautiful photos and rock samples were shown of the geologic features from the tunnel excavation, consisting of primarily sandstone, siltstone, shale, and chert ranging from Miocene to Cretaceous age (dated at 5 to 144 million years old).  Action photos of our road header equipment used in tunneling were featured during the presentation.  We look forward to more talks about rocks with the SFBC!

To learn more about the National Speleological Society San Francisco Bay Chapter, visit their website at www.sfbcgrotto.org

For more information on the New Irvington Tunnel Project, subscribe to our blog, or call our 24 hour answer line at 866-973-1476 or email mle@sfwater.org

New Irvington Tunnel Project Geologist Rebecca Fusee

shares some rock samples from the tunnel with attendees

L to R: John Tinsley, Tom Mathey, NIT Project Geologist Rebecca Fusee, NIT Project Manager David Tsztoo, Alan Chern, Matt Bowers

 

Update: New Irvington Tunnel Construction Activity at Irvington Portal

Excavation of the New Irvington Tunnel is more than two-thirds complete! The contractor has finished making the last of the necessary connections between the large water pipelines at the Irvington Portal. The contractor will begin ramping down construction activities at a portion of the site. The first step will be the partial demobilization and site restoration on the southern portion of the property.

Starting as early as February 20, 2013, the contractor will begin the process of removing some of the sound barriers at the project site. (See Map Below)

What to Expect
The sound barriers will be removed at the locations depicted in the map. The work involves removal of the panels and digging around the concrete foundation. Workers then remove the foundation and cut or pull the steel beams out. The excavated area would then be backfilled. Noise associated with sound barrier removal will include the operation of heavy equipment, back up alarms and concrete breakup.

Removal Hours
Sound barrier removal can take place Monday through Friday from 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM. We will continue to monitor noise and vibration in this area to ensure full compliance with strict noise and vibration standards set forth in the project’s Environmental Impact Report.

What’s Next?
We are not done at Irvington Portal, yet! Installation and burial of permanent portal facilities and security improvements will continue through 2013 into 2014. Site restoration for the remainder of the project site will commence in 2014.

Questions? 24-Hour Answer Line at 866-973-1476 or email mle@sfwater.org or blauppe@sfwater.org

Areas in yellow highlight sound barriers to be removed,
areas in blue will still remain

 Photo of Sound Barriers



Another Shut Down for the Books

The New Irvington Tunnel Project has just completed its winter pipeline shutdown work this season.

“What’s the big deal?” you ask. Here’s why.

Our construction team must construct upgrades to this water system while it still provides water to our 2.6 million customers.  We shut down the pipelines in order to cut into them and weld pipeline connections to improve your water system.  We can only do this for short periods of time during winter months when demand for water is low. The timelines within which the contractor can complete their work are very short. The work is very complex and challenging in a very tight area. No pressure!

At the Irvington Portal area in Fremont, the contractor Southland Tutor Perini had two shutdown seasons – last year and this – to complete a complex set of pipeline connections between the existing Irvington Tunnel, the New Irvington Tunnel currently under construction, and the five Bay Division Pipelines. These pipelines can only be shut down one at a time during winter months.

The SFPUC is creating pipeline connections to allow water to be distributed from both tunnels to all five pipelines in a variety of ways.  Work on the final Bay Division Pipeline #4 connection started on November 5, 2012, and the project team recently completed the work.

For our customers this means a water transmission system that will be more flexible from an operational standpoint and better able to withstand a major earthquake.  For our construction team it means a pat on the back for a job well done.

Work being done on the final Bay Division Pipeline #4 Connection

Workers perform welding work on pipeline

For more project info, please email mle@sfwater.org or call our 24 hour answer line at 866-973-1476.

New Irvington Tunnel Challenge Continues!

Tunneling excavation continues east from Mission Boulevard with the use of controlled detonation at a rate of approximately 12 feet per day. A road header travels west from I-680 at a rate of approximately 15 feet per day. When will the two meet?

Your challenge is to figure out the day and time you think the tunneling workers will meet. Guess correctly and you could win a prize pack featuring gift certificates to local business and other goodies! The chart has squares corresponding to a date and timeframe in June or July, when the rendezvous could happen. Selections submitted by contestants are indicated by a star.

Information to Help You Choose

In June or July, miners excavating the new tunnel from the Irvington Portal in Fremont will meet miners tunneling west from the Vargas Shaft. When it happens this hole-through will mark the completion of the Irvington-Vargas tunnel segment.

The tunnel segment between Irvington Portal and Vargas Shaft is 4,500 feet long. As of May 7th, miners have tunneled 1,747 feet east from Irvington and 1,955 feet west from Vargas. Ground conditions dictate excavation. In ideal ground conditions, crews have tunneled up to 98 feet in a day. When ground conditions are poor they excavate less than 20 feet. Miners do not tunnel on Sundays.

How to Enter

1) Choose your top three squares and e-mail your choices to: fzamora@sfwater.org

2) Include the date and time you think the hole-through will take place. Squares will be assigned first come, first serve. Only one square is allowed per person

3) If the first choice is available then the square is assigned to that person. If the square is unavailable then the next available choice is assigned.

4) Submissions will be accepted until May 31. Please include your name, address, phone number and e-mail so we can contact you if you're successful!

Good luck!

New Irvington Tunnel Challenge!

Tunneling excavation continues east from Mission Boulevard with the use of controlled detonation at a rate of approximately 12 feet per day. A road header travels west from I-680 at a rate of approximately 15 feet per day. When will the two meet?

Your challenge is to figure out the day and time you think the tunneling workers will meet. Guess correctly and you could win a prize pack featuring gift certificates to local business and other goodies! The chart has 101 squares each corresponding to a date and timeframe in June when the rendezvous could happen. Selections for this week are indicated by an “X”.

How to Enter

1) Choose your top three squares and e-mail your choices to: fzamora@sfwater.org

2) Include the date and time you think the hole-through will take place.

3) Squares will be assigned first come, first serve. Only one square is allowed per person

4) If the first choice is available then the square is assigned to that person. If the square is unavailable then the next available choice is assigned.

5) Submissions will be accepted until May 31. Please include your name, address, phone number and e-mail so we can contact you if you're successful!

Information to Help You Choose

In June, miners excavating the new tunnel from the Irvington Portal in Fremont will meet miners tunneling west from the Vargas Shaft. When it happens this hole-through will mark the completion of the Irvington-Vargas tunnel segment. The tunnel segment between Irvington Portal and Vargas Shaft is 4,500 feet long. As of April 28th, miners have tunneled 1,702 feet east from Irvington and 1,890 feet west from Vargas. Ground conditions dictate excavation. In ideal ground conditions, crews have tunneled up to 98 feet in a day. When ground conditions are poor they excavate less than 20 feet. Miners do not tunnel on Sundays. Good Luck!

Road Header Rendezvous Challenge

A road header travels east from Mission Boulevard at rate of 45 feet per day. A second road header travels west from I-680 at a rate of 35 feet per day. When will the two road headers meet?

At some point, we’ve all scratched our heads and tried to figure out a math problem like that. Here at the SFPUC we won’t ask you to solve word problems. Instead, we invite you to be part of our Road Header Rendezvous Challenge.

In June, miners excavating the new tunnel from the Irvington Portal in Fremont will meet miners tunneling west from the Vargas Shaft. When it happens this hole-through will mark the completion of the Irvington-Vargas tunnel segment.

The chart above has 101 squares each corresponding to a date and timeframe in June when the rendezvous could happen. Your challenge is to figure out the day and time combination. Guess correctly and you could win a prize pack featuring gift certificates to local business and other goodies.

How to Enter
Choose your top three squares and e-mail your choices to fzamora@sfwater.org. Include the date and time you think the hole-through will take place. Squares will be assigned first come, first serve. Only one square is allowed per person.

For example, someone could submit the following:

1. June 19 between 6:01 AM and 12:00 PM
2. June 5 between 6:01 PM and 12:00 AM 
3. June 28 between 12:01 AM and 6:00 AM 

If the first choice is available then the square is assigned to that person. If the square is unavailable then the next available choice is assigned.

Submissions will be accepted until May 31. Please include your name, address, phone number and e-mail so we can contact you if you're successful!

Information to Help You Choose
The tunnel segment between Irvington Portal and Vargas Shaft is 4,500 feet long. As of April 24, miners have tunneled 1,657 feet east from Irvington and 1,810 feet west from Vargas. Ground conditions dictate excavation. In ideal ground conditions, crews have tunneled up to 98 feet in a day. When ground conditions are poor they excavate less than 20 feet. In the last month miners averaged 38 feet per day. Miners do not tunnel on Sundays.

We’ll update the tunnel’s progress every week at www.sfwater.org/nit. Good luck!

New Irvington Tunnel: A Year in Construction

The New Irvington Tunnel Project celebrated its first year of construction this past September. When complete the new 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. Take a look at the important work taking place above and below ground:



Year One by Numbers:

1 Tunnel Shaft: At 115-feet deep and 41-feet diameter, the Vargas Shaft is the starting point for two of the tunnel headings.

2 Tunnel Portals: Carved into hillsides between Sunol and Fremont the Alameda West and Irvington Portals are access and exit points for the new tunnel.

3 Road Headers: Weighing in at a combined 127 tons these mechanical tunneling machines are grinding their way through 3.5 miles of rock.

76 Secant Piles: Drilled and poured 115-feet into the ground this interlocking circle of piles form the support for the Vargas Shaft.

3057 Feet to Date: Miners have excavated this total from 4 tunnel headings.

Water Line Damaged at Irvington Portal

At approximately 10:00 AM, a drill crew installing inclinometers struck and damaged a 24" water line at the Irvington Portal. San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) and contractor personnel responded immediately and were able to stop the flow of water and contain it within the SFPUC's property.

The damaged water line serves the City of Hayward. The SFPUC immediately notified the City of Hayward so that the City can set up secondary pumps and storage measures. No service disruptions are anticipated as a result of the damage.

SFPUC and contractor personnel are currently working to repair the water line. Upon completion the water line will be disinfected and inspected prior to returning to service.