Sunol Valley Updates: Calaveras Road Closure and Construction Updates

Here are some important updates that may affect you:

Calaveras Road Closure Starts July 5th

To those who drive or ride Calaveras Road between Milpitas and Highway I-680 through the Sunol Valley: Please take note that Calaveras Road will be closed between Geary Road (just south of the entrance to Sunol Regional Wilderness) to Oakridge Road (near the Santa Clara / Alameda County line) starting July 5, 2016 for 18 months for safety reasons. The closure is weekdays only. 

Why Close the Road?

Although the majority of the materials for the new dam will come from on-site, approximately 300,000 cubic yards of sands and gravels and 150,000 cubic yards of hard rock will need to be imported to the site for construction of the dam. These materials will be imported in large hauling trucks on Calaveras Road. At its peak, truck traffic could amount to an average of one haul truck every five minutes on Calaveras Road during heavy hauling activities. It is not safe for this many large trucks to share the narrow portions of Calaveras Road with cyclists and private vehicles. 

Road Closure Details

• Where: Calaveras Road just south of Geary Road (entrance to Sunol Regional Wilderness) to Oakridge Road – near the Alameda / Santa Clara County line.
• When: weekdays ONLY
• The road will be swept of debris before opening at 6 a.m. on Saturday mornings
• The road will be closed every Sunday evening at 11:00 p.m.
• Gates: Two gates will close Calaveras Road just south of Geary Road and at Oakridge Road
• Emergency First Responders will have access through the closure at all times
• The entrance to East Bay Regional Park District’s Sunol Regional Wilderness will be open at all times from the north
• The road will be OPEN on weekends, for specific cycling races and for major holidays.

To learn more about the Calaveras Road Closure, please visit sfwater.org/calaverasroad for more details

Construction Activity to begin in the South end of the Calaveras Reservoir

What

Staring July 5, 2016 thru Mid 2018, increased construction activity will begin in the southern end of Calaveras Reservoir which the project refers to as Borrow Area E. In order to construct the replacement dam, we will need to gather clay materials from Borrow Area E.

What to expect

• Construction vehicles and earth moving machinery working at the southern edge of the reservoir on SFPUC property.
• Typical work hours are from 6:00 am to 6:00 pm
• You may hear back up alarms and some noise from the equipment
• Traffic: the trucks will stay off public roads for construction work. They will utilize specially-constructed roads within SFPUC property instead
• The project will not use Marsh or Felter Roads to access the construction areas or to haul materials. 

No Construction Work on the 4^th of July
Our construction crews in Sunol Valley will not be working.
We hope everyone has a safe and wonderful Independence Day. 

Photo Friday in Sunol Valley: Fish Passage Facilities Underway

Construction on a project that helps fish in Alameda Creek is underway! The Fish Passage Facilities Project within the Alameda Creek Watershed is located on SFPUC property, but accessed through the Sunol Regional Wilderness Park.

Construction crews have been busy preparing the site and shown here constructing a retaining wall.

The project is part of the SFPUC’s $4.8 billion Water System Improvement Program to repair, replace, and seismically upgrade the Hetch Hetchy Regional Water System.  This important work will support restoration of steelhead trout to the Alameda Creek watershed.

Photo Friday in Sunol Valley

Happy Friday

Although the hillsides around Sunol are already golden, we thought we'd share a few reminders of a beautiful spring taken only a couple of months ago.

Enjoy, and have a great weekend!

May 31st is National Dam Safety Awareness Day

Each year, the nation commemorates May 31^st as National Dam Safety Awareness Day. We have an important dam under construction here in Sunol Valley – the Calaveras Dam. Dams play a critical role in our water supply. 

Why is it important?

• Calaveras Reservoir, impounded by Calaveras Dam, when full provides half of Hetch Hetchy Regional Water System's Bay Area storage
• Upon completion, we will have a new seismically upgraded dam with a structural height of 220 feet, a crest length of 1210 feet and width of 80 feet at the crest and 1180 feet at the base
• It is crucial to the reliability of the water supply of 2.6 million people during emergencies and in times of drought

Today reminds us just how critical our work is here in Sunol Valley to rebuild the Calaveras Dam.

The following organizations have joined forces to commemorate National Dam Safety Awareness Day on May 31 - the Deep Foundations Institute (DFI), Association of State Dam Safety Officials, National Hydropower Association, U.S. Society on Dams and American Society of Civil Engineers. Check out their news:

https://ussdblog.wordpress.com/2016/05/30/national-organizations-commemorate-national-dam-safety-awareness-day-may-31st/

Calaveras Dam under construction today

Sunol Valley Teams Celebrate Memorial Day

In observance of Memorial day, our construction teams will not be working on May 30^th at the Calaveras Dam Replacement Project or the Fish Passage Facilities within the Alameda Creek Watershed Project in Sunol Valley.

We hope all of you have a safe and wonderful Memorial Day weekend.

Schedule Update for Calaveras Road Closure

To those who drive or ride Calaveras Road between Milpitas and Highway I-680 through the Sunol Valley:

The SFPUC has postponed the start of the closure of Calaveras Road, which was originally planned to begin on June 1, 2016. We will continue to keep you up-to-date on the timing and status of the closure. Calaveras Road is currently open to the public.

It is important to note that there is still truck traffic on Calaveras Road now between I-680 and the entrance to Calaveras Dam. The speed limit is 25 mph on Calaveras Road in construction zones. Please ride and drive safely on the narrow portions of Calaveras Road.

Follow the Calaveras Road closure updates online at sfwater.org/calaverasroad
To receive email notifications, please email mle@sfwater.org

WSIP Update on Repairing and Upgrading Your Water Infrastructure!

https://youtu.be/Fwfnrwvg7h4

It’s Infrastructure Week and here at the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) we have been implementing the Water System Improvement Program (WSIP), a $4.8 billion multi-year capital improvement program, to repair and upgrade our regional and local water system infrastructure to ensure the SFPUC can continue to supply reliable water to 2.6 million people in four Bay Area counties, especially after a major earthquake. 

Check out what the WSIP has been up to over the last year. 

Remember #infrastructurematters!

We are Stronger and Safer Together – National Safety Week

This week is National Safety Week. Which means construction contractors across the country emphasize one of the most important factors of the job -- SAFETY. Right here in Sunol Valley, we have over 150 workers working on projects such as building the replacement Calaveras Dam.

At the Calaveras Dam Replacement Project, crews have worked over 140,000 safe working hours since the beginning of the year, without any recordable safety incidents.  A recordable safety incident is when a worker requires medical treatment beyond first aid and there is a loss time on the job. Our last recordable incident was in October 2014. This is well below the industry average.

Why is this record special? Because our construction crews at the Calaveras Dam Replacement Project work multiple shifts – both day and night – working with huge machinery, excavating earth and rock, on a very complicated job site in challenging conditions. As we continue work to complete the project, we applaud the joint venture of Dragados USA, Flatiron Construction, and Sukut Construction for making safety a priority here at Calaveras Dam during National Safety Week.

Check out our time lapse capturing excavation work since the beginning of the project:

Before sunrise, the Calaveras Dam crews get together for their daily morning safety tailgate