Design-Build Catalina 24” Water and Sewer Main Replacement in San Diego, CA
Delivered a full utility corridor upgrade including 20,000 LF of sewer replaced, 16,000 LF of watermain installed, and critical fiber optic line under a $18.5M design-build contract.
Owner: City of San Diego
Location: Point Loma
Designer: Harris and Associates
Contractor: Orion Construction Corporation
Delivery Model: Design-Build
Contract Value: $18.5 million
Schedule: 2018
Scope: This project removed and replaced over 20,000 LF of PVC gravity sewer, abandoned 1,500 LF of gravity sewer, and installed 16,000 LF of PVC and CML&C 16”-24” watermain. The City of San Diego elected to perform a “Full Utility Corridor Upgrade” due to the potential of major traffic and community impacts. Work was performed using both open-cut and trenchless methods. Catalina Boulevard is located in Point Loma and is the main access point for Naval Base Point Loma, Point Loma Nazarene University, Cabrillo National Monument, Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery, and many other small businesses and residents.
Challenges: An early challenge was that the Owner had the opportunity to secure a Homeland Security grant to install 16,000 LF of fiber optic line, with the grant timeline requiring simultaneous design and installation by a critical date. Orion/Harris worked with the City using a progressive design-build methodology to deliver a fast-track, early-start package for installing the fiber-optic line and securing the grant on time. Other challenges included six different parallel pipelines, including 24” steel water main, a 16” PVC water main, a 12” sewer main, 54 private property sewer lateral replumbs, and an 18” RCP storm drain all needed to be upgraded or replaced within the same corridor causing the potential for traffic impacts and major heavy engineering construction fatigue on the surrounding community.
Results: Orion and Harris worked together phasing the work in each street corridor to be completed before moving onto the next street, making for a single onetime impact to those affected. Orion engaged a community liaison consultant to engage the public stakeholders keeping them informed about upcoming work schedules and impacts utilizing direct mailers, door hangers and a community website dedicated for this project with regular updates. Orion self-performed (54) trenchless sewer lateral installations after determining that open-cut methods would adversely impact the multi-lane high traffic on Catalina Boulevard. During construction (3) large storm drain lines were found to be severely deteriorated and corroded, so the team worked closely with the City to quickly Design and Build the replacement SD lines progressively as mainline construction proceeded, allowing for real-time input from City stakeholders in the design, all the while maintaining tight budget controls.
