Tutor Perini Corp. reports that Caltrans has informed the firm that it has been awarded a $215-million contract for construction of the fourth bore tunnel at the Caldecott Tunnel section of Highway 24 in Alameda and Contra Costa counties near Oakland.

Photo: Caltrans

Caltrans awarded the contract to Tutor-Saliba Corp., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tutor Perini Corp.

The tunnel will be approximately 990 meters long and will add two additional lanes of traffic in the westbound direction and is designed to alleviate traffic congestion along the Route 24 corridor. Construction is anticipated to start in January and will take approximately three years to complete.

The fourth tunnel will parallel the existing third tunnel and will have seven interconnecting personnel passageways to facilitate maintenance and emergency access. Also included will be construction of a new Operations and Maintenance Center building totaling approximately 6,000 sq ft.

The Caldecott Tunnel project will deliver congestion relief for the 160,000 motorists who travel the corridor daily while also delivering significant economic benefits to the region.

The Caldecott Tunnel has been an important link in the East Bay transportation network since the Kennedy Tunnel opened in 1903. The first and second bores were constructed in 1937.

“Today the long-awaited Caldecott Tunnel project took a big step forward toward becoming a reality, made possible through state and local dollars and our actions to secure federal funds,” says Governor Schwarzenegger on the eve of selecting a bid. “This project will reduce local traffic congestion while creating nearly 6,000 jobs for California � and is a solid investment in the future of the Bay Area�s transportation infrastructure.”

Financing for the project includes $11 million from Proposition 1B, the transportation bond championed by the governor and approved by voters in 2006, as well as the $197.7 million the state secured from the federal government through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The project has set a goal of hiring at least 3% of its contracted amount for underutilized, disadvantaged business enterprises. Completion is scheduled for winter 2013-2014.

The project is a partnership between Caltrans, the Contra Costa Transportation Authority and the Alameda County Congestion Management Agency. The new configuration will eliminate the current situation where workers at the tunnel must reverse the traffic direction in the center bore twice a day to accommodate the morning and evening commutes and the consistently shifting traffic patterns on busy weekends.

The new tunnel will be located to the north of the existing tunnels and have two 12-ft lanes, a 10-ft north shoulder, a 2-ft south shoulder, a 2-ft north emergency walkway and a 3-ft south emergency walkway. The new tunnel will be approximately 41 ft wide and 3,389 ft in length. Other elements of the tunnel include seven emergency cross passages, a new two-story operations and maintenance building, construction of retaining walls and a noise barrier, pavement overlay at the State Route 24/Caldecott Lane interchange, improvements to eastbound State Route 24, realignment of the westbound Fish Ranch Road on-ramp, and improvements to the eastbound Fish Ranch Road on-ramp.

In addition to the tunnel, this project will also include improvements at the Kay Street overcrossing and realignment of westbound State Route 24 to the northbound State Route 13 connector.