“All in all, it’s about a $350-million portfolio,” says Carl Holmes, authority deputy director of capital projects. While three of four segments of a planned multi-use path are set to be bid this year, funding is still being sought for one segment, he notes. “We’re also trying to see if it’s possible that we could design and maybe build portions of it, because we have half of the roadways closed right now while we have the two major construction projects underway,” Holmes adds.

The agency in January announced in its blog that the California Strategic Growth Council had awarded a $45-million grant for construction of affordable housing, bus shelters and paths and sidewalks that facilitate planned completion of the Yerba Buena Multi-Use Path northern segment in summer 2028.

A Golden State Bridge-Obayashi joint venture is construction manager-general contractor for the approximately $126-million Yerba Buena Island West Side Bridges Seismic Retrofit Project. The scope of work is to remove eight existing 1930s-era bridges and replace them with six retaining walls, a cut-and-cover tunnel and reconstructed roadway that is over one-quarter mile, says Robert Coupe, Golden State Bridge vice president.

“They were scary—old and rickety and rusty bridges,” he says. What was even scarier for the project team­—initially—was the discovery of old military ordnance such as tear gas canisters at the site shortly after the team broke ground in 2023, Coupe notes.

“We shut the job down and got out of the way and let the experts deal with that,” he recalls. The shutdown lasted just a few days. “I’d worked on the island in the 2000s for the Bay Bridge, and there were live grenades,” Coupe adds. More risky is working on steep slopes. Crews conducted about 37,800 cu yd of excavation, he says. Some 25,000 cu yd of that material goes to the Treasure Island Development Commission for future surcharging.

The island is a natural rock formation covered in sand. “Some of the walls we’re building are one-sided with soil nail walls and tiebacks,” says Coupe. “We had a hard time building those in the sandy material.” The team devised a solution of 1.5-in.-dia hollow sealed rods drilled vertically along the walls and grouted into the hill. “As we excavated in front of those vertical rods, it retained the sand,” he says.

The innovative system was nicknamed “Sand Jail,” says Rob Reaugh, partnering facilitator at project consultant Org-

Metrics. “It’s a soil-nail wall approach where as the tube spirals down, concrete is injected, creating columns to hold the sand back.”

Reaugh runs a citywide partnering steering committee, originally formed in 2016. “To our knowledge, it’s the only committee of its kind. We talk about partnering, collaboration and project delivery across the six departments of San Francisco.” He adds that the multitude of stakeholders involved with the planned development encompass state, local and federal agencies as well as developers.

In March, Thompson Builders Corp. completed its approximately $22-million portion of the $38-million Hillcrest Road Improvement Project, which entailed a 30,000-sq-ft, 30-ft-high retaining wall, according to a press release. The wall is finished with stained and sculpted shotcrete featuring artwork by Bay Area artist Muzae Sesay.

Also set to complete this year is a $4-million effort to enhance the Treasure Island Ferry Terminal.