Industrial & Special Projects

Project: Yosemite Valley Integrated Utilities Project - Phase 1

Owner: National Park Service

The Yosemite Valley Integrated Utilities Project involved replacement of older existing utility lines that were experiencing failures. The new utilities consisted of 5330 linear feet of 12” to 30” waterline, 2635 linear feet of 8” to 14” sanitary sewer, 10,190 linear feet of 12” sewer force main, 11,320 linear feet of telecommunication duct bank, 7695 linear feet of electrical duct bank, 120 vaults and manholes along with crossings of Yosemite Creek and the Merced River.

Construction occurred across numerous ecologically sensitive meadows and wildlife habitats. Above normal rain and snowfall influencing the groundwater and storm runoff levels created a continuous challenge as we installed the various utilities. The Merced River Crossing occurred in two phases and required a deep shored excavation system.

Project: Utility Relocation Project

Owner: University of Nevada @ Reno

Underground Construction was selected to relocate existing utilities to facilitate construction of the new Knowledge Center. The project included installation of 2600 linear feet of 8” water line, 2600 linear feet of electrical duct bank, 3500 linear feet of telecommunication duct bank, and 20 vaults associated with the various utilities. All the work had to be competed during summer without interrupting the schedule of classes and other University activities. Upon completion of the new utilities, Underground Construction was responsible for coordination of the existing utility shutdown and new utility tie-ins.

Project: UC Berkeley Underground Utilities Project

Owner: University of California, Berkeley

The project included the installation of 1850 linear feet of doubled-walled 6” steam and 3” condensate piping, 900 linear feet of 8” sanitary sewer, 850 linear feet of 8” storm drain piping, 1600 linear feet of concrete encased telecommunication / electrical duct bank and the associated manholes and/or vaults. Many of the steam vaults installed required bypassing the existing system, removing the old dilapidated vault, and replacing it with a new pre-cast vault. These new steam and condensate vaults required an extensive amount of mechanical fit-up, welding and copper brazing at each location.

The majority of our work took place between occupied classrooms and buildings requiring deep shored excavations for the installation of multiple dry and wet utilities. Due to the age of the campus (Built in 1868), the location / routing of many of the existing facilities was unknown. This presented many challenges requiring Underground Construction Co. Inc. to work in conjunction with UC Berkeley’s engineering staff to design and layout many of the new facilities in the field adapting to the existing conditions.

Project: Steam Lines and Utility Corridors

Owner: Stanford University

Underground Construction has had a year-to-year ongoing presence at Stanford University, placing miles of condensate steam lines and utility corridors for the main campus as well as the linear accelerator. These jobs have involved working in existing steam tunnels (up to 150 degrees in temperature) and backfilling with special thermal layers. All Stanford projects have been constructed under tight scheduling windows in order to complete work prior to the fall class schedule.

Project: Alviso Tower Repair; Alviso, CA.

Owner: Pacific Gas and Electric

The scope of work on this project was to restore two failing concrete tower footings and to pour a reinforced concrete beam around the base of the tower all while working off of barges and within a large cofferdam in the Guadalupe Slough located near Alviso, CA. The restoration of the tower foundations required the installation and removal of one 45 foot square cofferdam, continuous dewatering, excavating the mud around the columns to expose the pile caps, the removal of dilapidated and spalling concrete around the existing columns, inspection of the existing reinforcing steel and wooden piles and finally to extend the existing columns and construct new beams with corrosion inhibiting concrete. An existing barge was modified and outfitted with a portable batch plant and enough material to mix 100 CY of concrete on the water at the site allowing us to pour the beams monolithically.

Project: Napa River Tower Replacement in Vallejo, CA

Owner: Pacific Gas and Electric

The overall project involved the removal and reconstruction of two 246 foot tall high voltage transmission towers, and restoration of two aging concrete tower foundations (built in the 1920’s), all while working off of barges and within large cofferdams in the Napa River. The restoration of the tower foundations required the installation and removal of two 60 foot square cofferdams, continuous dewatering, excavating the mud around the columns to expose the pile caps, the removal of dilapidated and spalling concrete around the existing columns and beams, inspection / repair and/or replacement of the existing reinforcing steel and “I” beams and finally to re-encapsulate the existing columns and beams with new corrosion inhibiting concrete. An existing barge was modified and outfitted with a portable batch plant and enough material to mix 100 CY of concrete on the water at the site allowing us to pour each tower monolithically.

Project: Clean Fuels, Shell Oil Refinery, Martinez

Owner: Bechtel, Parsons, Shell

As part of the $1.1 billion Clean Fuels project Bechtel signed with Shell Oil, Underground Construction Co. Inc. fulfilled many diverse industrial projects as part of this job, including: new compressor pads, hundreds of drilled piers for pipeways, new roads, a new 36” drain pipe system, a new dam and renovation of Lake Slobodnik to help with wastewater containment which involved moving over 250,000 yards of dirt, pads and setting of eight 160’ diameter tanks, a new complete storm water segregation system, several miles of fuel and other pipelines varying in size from 4” to 36”, new retention ponds and effluent treatment areas, and reclaiming and backfilling ponds to set new tanks.

During this project, Underground won the prestigious award for safest contractor in the refinery – working over 68,000 hours without a recordable injury (this was part of a year in which Underground Construction Co. Inc. was awarded the #1 Safety Award of Excellence by the AGC of California). Our ongoing commitment to safety and quality has ensured that the company has a lasting presence at the Shell Oil Refinery to this day.

Project: Richmond Refinery Stormwater Segregation Project

Owner: Chevron USA

Construction involved installations through critical process piping facilities and Hazwoper environment. Underground Construction, Co. Inc. responded with fastrack construction of critical support facilities (heavy haul roads, utilities protection, and parking facilities) for the reconstruction of fire damaged plant. We also constructed 1,000 feet of ground water extraction trench. Repair of existing cooling tower support piles was required, while providing temporary support, hand excavation, and shoring systems.

Installation of several thousand feet of various sizes of Ductile Iron pipe, Reinforced Concrete pipe, and Spirolite pipe, deep excavation and shoring and the construction of underground stormwater diverson structures were completed on-time and on-budget.

Project: Westbound Day Tanks in Belen, NM

Owner: Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad (BNSF)

The rail yard in Belen is the busiest train yard in the western US and all of our construction activities to install a new fuel storage facility had to be performed without any impacts to the existing facility.  The site is situated between the active fueling tracks and aerial 12kV high voltage lines so we were very limited in our construction means and methods.  Add in a very aggressive construction schedule and our challenges were very clear.

The project included demolition to clean and ready the site, installation of Geopiers (rammed stone columns) to stabilize the tanks foundations, the tank ringwalls and concrete containment basin, the site electrical, a structural steel catwalk for the fueling platform, the two 2ea 30 foot diameter by 36 foot high aboveground diesel storage tanks and the associated fuel piping and valves.