What’s on Tap for the Sunol Valley in 2014?

A few weeks into the New Year, our Sunol Valley Project teams are already very busy with the important work to seismically upgrade facilities which deliver drinking water to 2.6 million Bay Area customers as part of the Water System Improvement Program (WSIP) and other ongoing projects. Here’s a quick snapshot of the anticipated activities of the year to come. Please visit us often on our blog to stay up to date and learn more!

New Irvington Tunnel
In October 2013, we completed excavation of the new tunnel.  Recently, the project team began installing the inner lining for the tunnel. These are 50-foot-long, 8½ foot in diameter steel pipes that are inserted into the tunnel on a special train. Once in place, these pipe segments are welded together from the inside.  On average, seven pipe sections are installed daily.  Project completion is anticipated for 2015.

50 ft. pipe being prepared for installation at New Irvington Tunnel

Calaveras Dam Replacement Project

The largest project in the Sunol Valley continues with ongoing major excavation as well as drill and blast activities to stockpile materials in preparation for the construction of the replacement dam.  We are still clearing out loose soil and rock materials in the area to make room for the new dam. In the coming weeks, the project will begin construction of the new 1,550-foot-longspillway, all the while dealing with the continuing challenges of the site’s complex geology. Grouting work on the left abutment of the new dam will also begin soon.  As construction progresses, the environmental team continues to find and catalogue interesting fossils at the site. Projected completion is anticipated in 2017.

Aerial view of upper Left Abutment for Replacement Dam
(left side of valley when looking downstream)

San Antonio Backup Pipeline

Construction of the San Antonio Backup Pipeline, which will add operational flexibility to our Sunol Valley Water transmission system, has been moving forward towards completion in March of 2015.  The majority of the new pipeline has been installed and is in the ground.  The new slurry wall was also completed last year.  This year the project team will focus on construction of the small above-ground structures and discharge pumps at the quarry storage pond at the north end of the site.

Workers excavating and shaping the hillside in preparation
for the outfall structure that will be going into Pond F3-east

Town of Sunol Fire Suppression System Project

2014 will see the start of construction of this important public safety project in the Town of Sunol.  The SFPUC will upgrade the water distribution system for the Town of Sunol since the current system is inadequate.  The SFPUC will add additional fire hydrants in commercial and residential areas of the Town of Sunol, replace pipelines on County roads to improve the flows from the fire hydrants, and also replace two to four of the Town's existing water storage tanks on the hill.  Construction for this project is anticipated to start spring/summer of this year.

Alameda Creek Watershed Center and Sunol Yard Upgrade

Plans are underway to design and construct the Alameda Creek Watershed Center located near the Sunol Water Temple, as part of its efforts to improve the existing facilities in the Sunol Yard. The proposed Watershed Center would provide a place for people to gather and learn about the Alameda Creek Watershed, its natural resources and its role as part of the SFPUC water supply system as well as connect with the history of the Sunol Valley.  This project is in its early planning and design stages with construction anticipated to begin in 2015. 

Bioregional Habitat Restoration
Construction activities for the Bioregional Habitat Restoration (BHR) program will start winding down this year. We will, however, continue to monitor the success of these projects through 2024. The projects that are nearly completed within the Sunol Valley  -- Goldfish Pond Restoration at the southern end of Calaveras Road, San Antonio Creek Restoration, Sheep Camp Creek and Goat Rock – have restored or enhanced a combined total greater than 1,500 acres of sycamore and oak riparian woodland, oak woodland and savannah, and serpentine and annual grasslands.

This project includes restoring 5,000 feet of the existing Sheep Camp Creek.

Completed Projects

As we start 2014, we can also continue to celebrate the completion of the Sunol Valley Water Treatment Plant Expansion and Treated Water Reservoir project in September 2013. This water treatment plant now enables us to filter and provide 160 million gallons of water per day to our Bay Area customers for up to two months should our Hetch Hetchy Reservoir supplies become unavailable due to an earthquake or other emergency.

We look forward to working with you this year and all the good things to come to Sunol Valley!

Happy Holidays from the Sunol Valley Team!

Meet One of Our Operators

Please allow us to introduce an indispensable member of our SFPUC staff – Tony Scott. Tony is the Acting Chief Stationary Engineer at the Sunol Valley Water Treatment Plant, which is our East Bay drinking water filter plant. Tony and his staff oversee the treatment of drinking water from San Antonio and Calaveras Reservoirs before it reaches you, our customer.

                                     Tony stands proudly in front of the facility he has worked at for 18 years.
When Tony walks around the Plant his eyes are constantly on alert, inspecting everything around him. He checks in with staff to make sure all is running smoothly and that there are no surprises. “One of my mentors told me that every day you come to work here – our water treatment certification is on the line,” says Tony. “It is our responsibility to perform well. That always keeps me in a state of readiness.”

Tony has worked at the Plant for 18 years, and during that time he has pulled his fair share of holiday duty. Providing drinking water is a 24/7 operation, so a small team is always at the Plant, rain or shine, holiday or not. They monitor the quality of the water coming into the Plant to make adjustments in the treatment process if need be. Those on the night shift take advantage of the lower water demand on the Plant in order to check the instrumentation, do preventative maintenance on plant equipment, and fill out the extensive reports required by our regulators. Tony says that working at night and over the holidays can take some getting used to. But, he says, “The operating staff knows that this is part of their job.  They understand they need to get the job done.” Each holiday shift usually pulls together for a holiday potluck for dinner or a breakfast at the end of the shift.

 

Tony and his staff work 24/7 so we all can enjoy these special holiday times with family and friends and never have to worry about our drinking water. So, thank you, Tony and the staff at the Sunol Valley Water Treatment Plant!

Happy Holidays to you and yours, and here’s hoping that the Plant staff have a lovely holiday meal in the Plant’s tiny kitchen!

Late Night Visitors

First thing in the morning, our team of biologists head out to the Calaveras Dam Replacement Project construction site to inspect for animals that may have wandered onto the construction site overnight. The inspectors help to ensure that none of the rare and endangered species in the area end up in the path of the day’s construction activities. 

Sometimes they find critters that need to be taken off site to a safe place. In fact, to date, our environmental inspectors have relocated western pond turtles, Alameda whipsnakes, California tiger salamanders, and many other species to a nearby, safe habitat away from construction.

Other times they find evidence that something passed through, but didn't stick around. This last week, our inspectors found the paw print of a mountain lion at the edge of a water holding pond. Also known as a cougar, puma, or panther, mountain lions are solitary predators of other large mammals, such as deer and elk.  Males can weigh up to 200 pounds, while females could reach 140.

Glimpses of these creatures have been seen by project personnel, but thankfully, none of our biologists have encountered the feline while making their rounds. But it serves as a reminder that we are not alone out here in the watershed, and we must continue our vigilance to help protect the animals and plants in the Southern Alameda Creek Watershed while we continue with construction of this important water reliability project. 

Calaveras Dam Replacement Project reaches 70,000 Safe working hours

Today was not just a typical work day at Calaveras Dam.  It was a day to acknowledge safe working practices since the project reached over 70,000 safe working craft hours since May 2013.  

Rebuilding the dam continues to be a challenging project with the complex geology and location of the Calaveras Dam nestled in the pristine Alameda Creek watershed.  Our laborers have been working diligently to seismically upgrade the dam since construction began.  To date, they have much to be proud of including completion of major adits and tunnels to the new intake structure, completion of grouting operations on the right abutment, and moving over 4 million cubic yards of materials for dam construction.  Most importantly, the team focuses on performing all of this work safely.

A joint venture of Dragados USA / Flatiron Construction / Sukut Construction serves as the contractor for the Calaveras Dam Replacement Project.  The  Calaveras Dam Replacement Project is part of the Water System Improvement Program which provides drinking water to 2.6 million Bay Area customers.

New Irvington Tunnel Roadheaders Get Well-Deserved Break

They worked an average of 20 hours a day, 5 days a week for two and a half years; grinding away at rock hundreds  of feet underground. And now, they’re finally getting the rest they deserve.

The three road headers that helped excavate the New Irvington Tunnel were removed from the tunnel last month after we holed through from tunnel headings and they are now out in the fresh air and resting after completing the excavation of the three and half mile-long tunnel.  The largest of the group is a Mitsui Miike which weighs in at 57 tons. The two Antraquip roadheaders each weigh 36 tons. 

What lies ahead for our three tunnel veterans? All three machines could be refurbished for use at future jobs. 

While the workhorses await their future fate, work continues to complete the New Irvington Tunnel. Crews will begin installing the steel lining soon. The entire project is expected to be complete in 2015.

Join Us at the Sunol Cowboy Hootenanny Folk Festival this Saturday

This past weekend, for the second year in a row, the Sunol Regional Outreach Team participated in the East Bay Regional Park District’s Sunol Cowboy Hootenanny Folk Festival at the Sunol-Ohlone Regional Wilderness Park! The event celebrates folk and pioneer history in the Sunol Valley with live music, vintage arts and crafts, square dancing, horse rides, food and more.

We really enjoyed sharing photos of our agency’s long history in the Sunol Valley. A clear favorite among booth visitors was a display of 20 million year-old fossils unearthed during construction of the Calaveras Dam Replacement Project. Many visitors already knew a great deal about our current efforts to upgrade the Hetch Hetchy Regional Water System for future generations and about the Alameda Creek Watershed. Let’s see how much you know!

Below is a sampling of questions to test your own knowledge. Don’t peek at the answers!

1. What did the average house cost when the San Antonio Pump Station was built in 1965?

2. Who was the original designer of the first Calaveras Dam?

3. Currently, miners in the New Irvington Tunnel use a handheld gas detector encased in rubberized armor with ultra-bright LED alarms to detect dangerous gases. What did miners use in the existing Irvington Tunnel?

At the festival we tested attendees’ knowledge of local water system history along with some historical trivia.

Answers:

1. Answer: $14,000. We recently completed work to upgrade it and make it more reliable in case of an earthquake, because it is the literal and figurative heart of our water conveyance system in the Sunol Valley.

2. Answer: The original Calaveras Dam was built by California’s most famous water engineer, William Mulholland. In 1913 Mulholland supervised construction of the Los Angeles Aqueduct, which brought the water from Owens Valley that enabled Los Angeles to grow into the nation’s second-largest metropolis.

3. Answer: A Canary. Canaries were once regularly used in tunneling and mining as an
early warning system. The phrase "canary in a coal mine" is frequently used to refer to a person or thing which serves as an early warning of a coming crisis.

 

View of the Sunol Water Temple from 1922.