Continuing down Bay Road with Construction

We have had lots of neighborhood interest regarding pipe installation along Bay Road. between Marsh and Flood Park. This past Tuesday we held an informal community Q&A hour at the Church at 71 Bay Road with local area residents. During the hour, we covered topics including: construction schedule, construction noise/ traffic, Flood Park, trees along the Right of Way, Bay Road restoration plans, and the Hwy 101 tunneling site at Iris Lane. Those who attended enjoyed a delightful early evening of lemonade and cookies on the longest day of the year.

Construction Update

• We are installing the Pulgas valve vault


• Pipe installation is continuing westward along Edgewood Rd.


• Repaving will begin at El Camino and Northumberland


• Work has restarted at the Fair Oaks Community Playground at 9th Ave. and Edison St.


• Pipe installation is continuing underneath the intersection of Marsh and Bay Roads.


• Pipe installation is nearing completion along O’Brien Dr. in Menlo Park


• Night road crossing or is it trenching work is happening at University Ave. in East Palo Alto


• Trenching and pipe installation has begun at Costano Elementary School


• Pipe is being delivered to East Palo Alto in preparation for installation
  

FAQ: Why is Marsh Rd closed?

PG&E is doing regular maintenance including tree trimming along Marsh Rd and Bay Rd. This work is unrelated to pipeline construction being done by the SFPUC or our contractor Mountain Cascade Inc (MCI). Please contact PG&E’s customer service line at (800)743-5000 for additional information.

Summer is Upon Us

The warm weather has finally arrived, and as of June 15th summer officially began for our contractor. This means that the calendared environmental constraints are lifted, access to work in schools is granted, and almost all of the Right of Way is available for construction. So this marks the beginning of the busiest time of year for construction crews across the entire pipeline alignment.

As you can see below work is taking place across most of the Right of Way from pipe installation, to tunneling activities, and mowing. Construction notices are in the mail and/or being delivered to your home if construction is going to begin in your area. This blog is also a great source for timely construction information.

Construction Updates

• The White-tailed Kite has fledged from its nest in East Palo Alto and that area of the Right of Way has been cleared for construction activities


• Mowing continues along the Right of Way traveling westward through Redwood City


• Pipe installation has begun along Edgewood Rd. moving east to west from approximately Woodhue Ct.


• Curbs are being replaced along Ivy Dr. in Menlo Park


• Night road crossing work is happening at University Ave. in East Palo Alto


• Work is slated to restart at the Fair Oaks Community Playground at 9th Ave. and Edison St. next week


• Pipe installation is nearing completion along O’Brien Dr. in Menlo Park


• Construction preparation has begun at Costaño Elementary school in East Palo Alto


• Pipe is being pushed into place in the tunnel under Marsh Rd.


• Preparation has begun for the jack and bore tunneling under Hwy 101
  

Bay Tunnel in the News

Hetch Hetchy Water System Improvement Program (WSIP) projects have gotten some recent news coverage. The story that we broke about the Tunnel Boring Machine and the BDPL-5 Bay Tunnel project was covered by the Mercury News (BDPL- 5 Peninsula also received some mention in regards to Flood Park).

Restoration Update from WSIP Director Julie Labonte

Below is a letter from Julie L. Labonte, Director of the Water System Improvement Program, updating our current status on restoration along BDPL-5 on the Peninsula.

Night Work Scheduled

Also, we will start working on two night crossings beginning next week; on Willow Rd. at Ivy Dr. in Menlo Park, as well as University Ave at O’Brien Dr in East Palo Alto. Night crossings will limit traffic to one lane in each direction from the hours of 9pm to 6am on both Willow Rd. and University Ave.

Construction Update

• Pipe installation is continuing on Ivy Dr. and along O’Brien Dr. in Menlo Park
• Pipe is being delivered and installation will begin along Edgewood Rd. in San Mateo County.
• Night crossings at Willow Rd. and University Ave. will begin this week
• Tunneling has been completed at Marsh Rd. and Bay Rd. Pipeline installation in the tunnel will begin in early July 2011

The Tunnel Boring Machine has Arrived!

The 58-foot in diameter Ravenswood shaft, where the Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) will begin mining, has been completed. The TBM arrived from Japan by boat to the San Francisco Port and trucks to the construction site in Menlo Park. Currently the three major parts of the TBM are being assembled at the bottom of the 141-foot deep Ravenswood shaft. Together these three parts weigh approximately 290,349 lbs or 131.7 tons.

This week, two Hitachi assembly experts arrived from Japan (were the TBM was manufactured) to assist with the assembly of this specially designed and manufactured Tunnel Boring Machine.

The Bay Tunnel will be a 5 mile long tunnel running under the San Francisco Bay from Menlo Park on the Peninsula to Newark in the East Bay. The 15 foot diameter tunnel will be dug from west to east by the TBM over the next 2-3 years. The installation of BDPL-5 inside the tunnel will follow this and connect the Peninsula and East Bay sections of the pipeline.

The pipeline that you see being installed throughout the Peninsula is part of the Bay Division Pipeline #5 Project (BDPL-5 Peninsula). BDPL-5 Peninsula is 1 of 86 projects that are part of the Hetch Hetchy Water System Improvement Program. These projects will seismically retrofit, repair or replace outdated infrastructure and ensure that 2.5 million Bay Area customers continue to receive high quality drinking water even in the case of an earthquake or other disaster. This Peninsula portion of the pipe connects to the Crystal Springs watershed in the west and will be connected to the Bay Tunnel in the east.

Stay tuned for more exciting tunneling news.

Construction Update

• Pipe installation is continuing along O’Brien Dr. in Menlo Park


• Fencing is going up along Edgewood Rd. to set the perimeter for construction


• We are a little more than half way through the tunneling under Marsh Rd.


• Pipe installation continues along 14th Ave towards 18th Ave in North Fair Oaks


• We are continuing pipe installation at Pulgas Open Space towards Crestview Dr.


• All commercial and residential restoration work continues to be on hold