Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Women in Construction

March is Women’s History Month and across the nation we pay tribute to the generations of women whose commitment to improving the world around them have proven invaluable to society. Right here at the Calaveras Dam Replacement Project, there are some outstanding women who are not only excelling in the construction profession, but are helping to protect the water supply of 2.6 million customers of the Hetch Hetchy Regional Water System through their extraordinary efforts. 



Project Manager Susan Hou, P.E.
Susan Hou is our fearless leader here at the Calaveras Dam Project. As the Senior Project Manager, she oversees all aspects of the largest project in the $4.8 billion of Water System Improvement Program (WSIP). She has over 20 years of experience in the water and wastewater industry including leading multi-disciplinary teams of engineers, environmental professionals and construction managers in the planning, design, environmental permitting, and construction of dams, reservoirs, treatment facilities, fish passage facilities, tunnels, pipelines, and pump stations.  Her attention to detail has helped steer her team through some challenging issues.


Collette Frawley – Maintaining Quality Assurance
We are fortunate to have Collette Frawley as part of the Construction Management team. Collette is a registered Civil Engineer with Kleinfelder. Collette’s primary responsibilities at Calaveras Dam are to ensure every step of construction for the replacement dam is in compliance with the design and technical specifications. She oversees quality assurance staff who inspect and monitor construction activity on a daily basis. During her spare time, Collette serves as an engineering mentor for a local high school as part of the Architecture Construction Engineering (ACE) Mentor program and as the Practitioner Advisor for the San Jose State University American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). 


Shary Truong, Dragados / Sukut/ Flatiron Joint Venture
Shary Truong has served as the Field Engineer at the Calaveras Dam Replacement Project since January 2012 for the General Contractor (DFSJV). Shary recently coordinated and managed the construction of the new Spillway Bridge for the project. On a daily basis, Shary performs quality control on work that is completed, maintains a construction schedule with over 4,000 activities, reviews inspection reports for accuracy and completeness, and develops mitigation cost and time impacts due to any unforeseen conditions at the project. Shary reviews and verifies construction plans to ensure they are in compliance with project contract specifications. Shary also plays an important role at the on-site concrete batch plant, where she helped develop the concrete mix design for structural work at the dam. Shary hopes to inspire future women engineers in the Construction Industry and to help build a better community overall.

Shary Truong (far left), Susan Hou (center), and Collette Frawley (far right)
tour guests at the Calaveras Dam Project



Friday, March 11, 2016

Time to Spring Forward!

It is starting to look a lot like spring in the Sunol Valley. One of our team members snapped this picture of some Golden Poppies from the Calaveras Dam Replacement Project construction site. In addition, it is time to spring forward with Daylight savings time starting this Sunday, March 13, 2016. Don’t forget to turn your clocks forward one hour for more light in the evening and a later sunrise! Hello Spring!



Thursday, February 18, 2016

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!

Tuesday, February 16, 2016

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. 

Sunday, February 7, 2016

Calaveras Road Traffic Advisory: Haul Trucks at Night starting February 8, 2016 thru June 1, 2016


Large haul trucks will begin to transport materials on Calaveras Road 
in the evening hours starting as early as 7:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m. 
starting February 8th thru June 1st. Hauling will be Monday  through Friday. 

The trucks will travel on Calaveras Road between I-680 and to the 
entrance of the construction site for the Calaveras Dam Replacement 
Project south of Geary Road. Commuters may experience periodic delays. 
Cyclists: please try to avoid this area during these hours if at all 
possible to remain safe.

  • Calaveras Road remains open to the public
  • Large haul trucks expected between 7:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m. Monday thru Friday only.
  • Please drive and ride safely on the narrow portions of Calaveras Road and expect delays
  • Speed limit is 25 mph in construction zones.


Future Road Closure ­ Calaveras Road

The SFPUC will continue to work with Alameda and Santa Clara county staff to temporarily close Calaveras Road south of Geary Road to the project site for an 18 month period starting June 2016, weekdays only. The closure is necessary to protect the safety of the public on the road, while large trucks haul sands and gravels to the site.

Contact us:
Follow us online: sfwater.org/sunolvalley
24 hour- Answer Line: 866-973-1476
Join our Calaveras road notification list by emailing: 


Thursday, January 28, 2016

Calaveras Dam Celebrates another Safety Milestone


According to the U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), nearly 6.5 million people work at construction sites across the nation on any given day. The rate of injuries for construction workers is higher than those workers in other job categories in the United States. On average, we could have 150 workers on site at the Calaveras Dam Replacement Project.
The construction crews at the Calaveras Dam Replacement Project work multiple shifts – both day and night – working with huge machinery on a very complicated job site in challenging conditions. And yet the construction crews, who work for the joint venture of Dragados USA, Flatiron Construction and Sukut Construction, celebrated a huge safety milestone this week. Our crews have worked 75,000 safe working hours for the last quarter (from September 24, 2015 through December 31, 2015) without any recordable safety incidents. In fact, to date, they have a total of 304,146 work hours without recordable safety incidents as of December 2015. The last lost time incident was recorded in 2012. The teams celebrated with a well-deserved barbeque lunch on site to celebrate their success, and remind each other of the need to continue with their best practices to keep everyone safe.

As we continue the critical work to complete the project, we applaud our teams for continuing to make safety a priority here at Calaveras Dam.


Construction team who perform major structural work at the dam
(Pictured in no particular order: Jose Rodriguez, Dewayne Grayer, Ben Simbra, Benny Jasper, Alfredo Simao, Miles Cheek, Tomas Orantes, Eddie Fuentes, Garrett Colvin, Mike Morrison



Construction work on the new spillway chute

Friday, January 22, 2016

What’s on Tap for Sunol Valley and the Greater East Bay for 2016?


Our SFPUC teams in the East Bay are looking forward to a busy 2016. The $4.8 billion Water System Improvement Program (WSIP) might be more than 90% complete, but the majority of the work left to be done is right here.  We look forward to continuing on our old projects and starting new ones in the New Year. Here are a few highlights.






Calaveras Dam Replacement Project Rolls Onward.

The project is more than 70% complete. We will complete the Dam spillway, and will begin heavy hauling of materials for the dam starting in the middle of this year. Please subscribe to our blog at sfwater.org/sunolvalley for Calaveras Road Updates.  


 Calaveras Construction crew working on the outlet pipe at Calaveras Dam. The existing dam is in the distance. Look for increased construction traffic on Calaveras Road this year.




Alameda Creek Fish Passage Project Starts.

Construction on a project at our Alameda Creek Diversion Dam is set to start in February or March of 2016. The project entails partial demolition of the existing Alameda Creek Diversion Tunnel’s intake structure, and construction of a fish ladder to facilitate fish passage around the existing Alameda Creek Diversion Dam. Users of East Bay Regional Park’s Sunol Regional Wilderness might see increased construction traffic on Geary and Camp Ohlone Road starting in Spring. Construction is scheduled to end in sometime in late 2017 / 2018. 




Ice Age Fossils on Display.

Ice Age Fossils that were found in Fremont at a WSIP Project in Fremont are expected to go on display in May. More than 50 specimens were found on the construction site of the Seismic Upgrade of Bay Division Pipelines 3 and 4 at the Hayward Fault Crossing in Fremont Project in 2013. Crews found the bones of at least 2 bison, horse, camel, elk, rabbit, gophers and more. Those fossils have a new home at the Fremont Children's Natural History Museum, and will go on display in May. 













Dr. Joyce Blueford, Director of the Fremont Children's Natural History Museum, and staff paleontologist Jim Walker look over the Ice Age fossils found at the SFPUC construction site.






Alameda Creek Watershed Center / Sunol Yard Upgrade Begins Construction.

In August of 2016, construction to upgrade the SFPUC’s corporation yard at the corner of Paloma Way and Highway 84 will begin. Construction of the new Alameda Creek Watershed Center is also part of this same project, but will begin approximately 9 months after the Sunol Corporation Yard project starts. For more information, visit Sfwater.org/sunolvalley.  Construction is expected to be complete at the end of 2018.


The new Alameda Creek Watershed Center will be located adjacent to the Sunol Water Temple. Construction activities will start this year.


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