Contractors on the centerpiece of San Francisco’s $4.6-billion improvement to the Hetch Hetchy Water System were given notice to proceed on April 1. The five-mile subterranean Bay Division Water Delivery Tunnel planned for under the San Francisco Bay will replace two 1920s and 1930s era pipelines with one 9-ft-dia welded steel pipeline bored as deep as 100 ft under the bay’s floor. The new tunnel will be more secure in an earthquake and a tunnel-boring machine will minimize environmental damage.
A joint venture of Michels Corp., Brownsville, Wis., Jay Dee Contractors, Inc., Livonia, Mich., and Frank Coluccio Construction Co., Seattle, Wash., (MJCJV) won the $215.3-million contract in January. This is the same team that is building the Sound Transit Tunnel in Seattle.