California 2, January 15, 2023

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Myers & Sons Overcomes Challenges On Bridge Project

Myers & Sons Construction (Myers) overcame a variety of challenges, from water, confined space and railroad hazards to environmental issues and a highly accelerated schedule, to successfully complete the Paintersville and Mokelumne River Bridge project.

The $26.4 million project, which addressed the seismic stability deficiencies on four aging bridges located in Caltrans District 3, earned Myers the AGC of California Construction Safety Excellence Award in the category of “Safety on a High Hazard Project.”

The project scope included work on two side-by-side Mokelumne River bridges (northbound and southbound structures) that cross the Mokelumne River on I-5 at the San Joaquin/Sacramento County line; on the Paintersville Bridge, crossing the Sacramento River on SR 160 in Courtland; and on the North Sacramento Undercrossing on SR 160, spanning a Sacramento Regional Transit District (SacRT) track in an urban area of north Sacramento. Myers performed retrofits to strengthen bridge columns and upgrade the bridges to be more resistant to ground motions, seismic activity and other earthquake-related issues.

Each structure is critical to the livelihood of the local agricultural community and traveling public, making public mobility a key element of this project. The contractor’s work on the Paintersville Bridge, a historical movable structural steel truss bridge, required coordination with the U.S. Coast Guard due to boating laws and regulations on the active Sacramento-to-California Delta shipping channel that the bridge spans.

Myers faced an array of challenges that contributed to the high hazard nature of the project. They included: • Water hazards: The need to perform work over and in

moving water on two of the bridges — Paintersville and Mokelumne — posed unique hazards to the construction team as well as the traveling public. Boating traffic required various measures to ensure the waterways remained navigable. Additionally, the use of cranes, drill rigs and other heavy equipment on barges added another layer of complexity and safety concerns. Myers employed a marine engineer to analyze equipment weights and barge capacities to ensure stabilization when drilling for piles, among other solutions;

• Confined space and railroad hazards: Working in a confined space and over operational SacRT tracks at the north Sacramento undercrossing site posed falling risks. To mitigate these hazards, the Myers team coordinated with the city of Sacramento and SacRT to develop a value engineering change proposal (VECP) that would lessen traffic impacts on the bridge, create feasible work windows and minimize worker safety concerns;

• Accelerated schedule: To reduce safety risks associated with the project’s accelerated schedule, Myers employed a variety of measures including increased onsite supervision, enhanced communication with crews and one-way reversing traffic control for key material deliveries and concrete pours, among other measures;

• Environmental hazards: Extensive poison oak at the Mokelumne site and persistent smoke from multiple Northern California wildfires presented unique hazards.

To protect worker safety, the team cleared and grubbed the Mokelumne site by mechanical means prior to start of construction and they constantly monitored weather and air quality indexes on all jobsites, adjusting work schedules as needed.

Delivering Solutions

No stranger to high-hazard construction projects, Myers drew on its vast risk management experience, its skills in identifying innovative approaches and its experience working in close coordination with an array of stakeholders to deliver solutions that addressed scheduling, quality and safety concerns throughout the job.

The team created an issue resolution plan that assigned responsible persons from both Caltrans and Myers to resolve or escalate specific issues as appropriate. Constant communication took place between the owner and Myers as well as with other stakeholders, enabling the vast majority of issues to be resolved on site.

The VECP that Myers adopted for work on the north Sacramento undercrossing bridge was another uniquely innovative solution that minimized safety risks to the crew and traveling public. For example, the original hinge retrofit plan involved accessing the bridge’s underside from below, but SacRT’s two-hour work windows made this method risky and slow. The VECP called for completing all hinge retrofit work by accessing the underlying hinges through the bridge deck during one 55-hour weekend bridge closure. This approach eliminated potential shutdowns of the SacRT track and significantly reduced the confined space hazard.

The Myers team coordinated closely with a variety of stakeholders, including Caltrans, the U.S. Coast Guard, SacRT, the city of Sacramento and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and Reclamation District 348, on work plans, closures, detours and other impacts. They implemented safety protocols and equipment such as waterway flagging during trestle installation and ensured team members received relevant training to address and mitigate specific project hazards.

Two Local State Projects Win Civil Engineering Awards

American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) has awarded two California projects its San Francisco section 2022 project awards: outstanding geotechnical award for YouTube’s HQ in San Bruno and outstanding seismic retrofit award for Riverside Elementary in San Pablo.

ENGEO, an engineering and environmental consultancy with offices in the U.S., Australia and New Zealand, worked on both projects. YouTube HQ’s Building 3, located at 1450 Bayhill Dr., includes up to four levels of below-grade parking facilities. Construction of the garage required installation of a hybrid soil nail, tie-back and cantilevered soldier pile shoring system up to 70-ft deep. The excavation was located between a Caltrans embankment and two San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) water transmission lines that are the main source of water to San Mateo County and the city of San Francisco.

Due to proximity to sensitive infrastructure, ENGEO created a monitoring instrumentation plan, analyzed expected deformations using numerical modeling and calibrated the models to measured deflections. The

firm led weekly meetings with SFPUC to present the measurements and predictions of future movements and provided engineer-

ing/geology observation throughout construction. The project was successfully completed between December 2020 and June

2021. Throughout construction, the SFPUC pipelines remained fully serviceable and the Caltrans embankment was unaffected.

For the Riverside Elementary, a Bay Area school, ENGEO provided services for the design-build construction of a mitigation of liquefaction-induced lateral spreading adjacent to the Bay Area elementary school. Overlapping deep soil mix (DSM) columns were constructed to create shear panels in the ground parallel to the direction of possible soil movement.

ASCE photo

Construction of the YouTube HQ garage required installation of a hybrid soil nail, tie-back and cantilevered soldier pile shoring system up to 70-ft. deep. The excavation was located between a Caltrans embankment and two San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) water transmission lines that are the main source of water to San Mateo County and the city of San Francisco.

The firm performed analyses to design the DSM panels as well as preparing the construction drawings and specifications inhouse. The project schedule allowed for slightly more than five months to provide the design, get in agreement with the school district’s geotechnical engineer and gain approval by the state of California to start construction in the district’s required timeline. During construction, the firm took parttime observations supporting the contractor’s quality control team and the quality assurance observations and testing by the school district’s team. 

AGC Celebrates State’s Best Firms at CSEA Luncheon

AGC of California recently recognized the best in safety in the California construction industry at the 35th annual Construction Safety Excellence Awards (CSEA).

Held in conjunction with CONSTRUCT 2022, AGC of California’s annual networking and professional development conference, in Rancho Mirage, the CSEA awards drew a crowd of several hundred construction executives, safety professionals and student chapter members to see leading California construction companies and individuals honored for safety excellence.

“In construction, we know that a successful project is a safe project,” said Dina Kimble, 2022-23 president of AGC of California and president of Royal Electric Company. “Safety is the cornerstone of everything we do, every step of the way. As an industry, our goal first and foremost is that every employee returns home safely to their family. Together, AGC of California and member companies can play a vital role in elevating the conversation about the importance of safety. We want every person on every job site to feel supported both physically and emotionally.”

Brian Mello, AGC of California associate vice president, engagement and regulatory affairs, helped moderate the awards luncheon along with Kimble, 2022 Safety & Health Council Chair Chris Jones, ACCO Engineered Systems; and AGC of California Safety & Regulatory Affairs Manager Tresten Keys. Justin Ross, national account manager of event sponsor Milwaukee Tool; and Adam Hobbs, vice president, global sales of sponsor HammerTech; also offered comments during the annual event.

Mello pointed out that the awards illustrate AGC of California’s commitment to strengthening the professional standards of contractors’ safety and health efforts across the state.

“Over the past two years, the Safety and Health Council has aligned its goals to the mission of AGC of California to shape policy, improve industry relationships and develop our workforce,” Mello said. “I look forward to working alongside the Safety and Health Council as we work to lift up, support and buoy the industry for long term sustainable growth.”

Mindful Leadership, Impact on Safety

Attendees heard a dynamic keynote address from Shaun Carvalho, chief safety officer of Shawmut Design and Construction. His presentation, “A Mindful Approach to

Leadership,” exemplifies the direction in which this industry and the safety and health council is moving — from compliance to a culture of care.

Carvalho challenged listeners to think about what success looks like to them, to set goals that aim high and to recognize the impact of constant distractions and negative thinking that the average human experiences on a daily basis.

Thanks to the digital world and cell phones and other media, “we’ve been distracted as a human race more in the last 15 years than ever before,” he noted. “Ninety-five percent of [safety] incidents can be traced back to a human factor. Are we creating an environment where [employees] can be their best?” Carvalho urged employers to share expectations and goals with employees and to “create a positive jobsite, built on empathy, communication and safety as the foundation.”

Following the keynote address, AGC of California recognized the winners of the 2022 CSEA Awards, which honored their strong commitment to safe work practices over the past year.

AGC of California honored the following award winners:

CSEA Main Category/ Worker Hours Building Division: 200,000–to-700,000 Worker Hours

1st place: BNBuilders

Finalist: Blach Construction

More Than 800,000 Worker Hours

1st place: Clark Construction Finalist: Hensel Phelps

Heavy, Civil and Highway Division: 200,000–to-600,000 Worker Hours

1st place: Nova Group Finalist: Myers & Sons Construction

Specialty Contractor Division: Under 400,000 Worker Hours

1st place: K. Comstock National Transit Finalist: Pro-Craft Construction

600,000–to-2

Million Worker Hours

1st place: A-C Electric Company Finalist: Solv Energy

More Than 2 Million Worker Hours

1st place: BrightView Landscape Development Finalist: ACCO Engineered Systems

CSEA Specialized Awards

Individual Safety Effort of Superintendent

Art Vasconcelos, Clark Construction.

Safety on a High Hazard Project – Myers & Sons Construction, “Paintersville and Mokelumne River Bridge Project”

For the first time, the presentation of the Harry Eckstein Safety Professional of the Year has been moved and will be presented at the AGC of California Installation & Awards Gala on Feb. 3, 2023, in San Francisco. 

(All photos courtesy of AGC of California.)

Keynote speaker Shaun Carvalho of Shawmut Design and Construction urged employers to share expectations and goals with employees and to “create a positive jobsite, built on empathy, communucation and saefty as the foundation.”

AGC Safety and Regulatory Affairs Manager Tristen Keys makes remarks at the 35th annual CSEA.

Attendees enjoyed a catered lunch at the award ceremony.

Building Golden Gate Bridge Safety Net Will Cost $400M

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) A prevention net on San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge that is already years behind schedule will cost about $400 million, more than double its original price, because of problems sparked by the government agency that manages the span, the lead contractors allege.

The allegations filed in state court by two construction companies said that changes to and flaws in the net design and the lack of transparency about the deterioration of the bridge’s maintenance platforms have raised the construction price from $142 million to at least $398 million.

“We were alarmed to discover the district concealed significant information during the proposal phase of the project, including extensive deterioration in certain areas of the bridge,” the contractor said in a statement.

The project aims to add 20-ft.-wide stainless steel mesh nets on both sides of the 1.7-mi. bridge and replace maintenance platforms used by bridge workers that were built in the 1950s.

The project aims to add 20-ft.-wide stainless steel mesh nets on both sides of the 1.7-mi. bridge and replace maintenance platforms used by bridge workers that were built in the 1950s. Work on the net began in 2018 and was set to be completed by January 2021 but has been repeatedly delayed.

Bridge officials in 2008 voted to move forward with the net, meant to deter those looking to jump to their deaths and catch those who do. Paul Muller, president of the Bridge Rail Foundation, a nonprofit created to end suicides on the bridge, said the span with sweeping views of the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco bay has been the site of nearly 2,000 suicides

since it opened in 1937, including 25 last year alone.

According to the joint venture, the deterioration is mainly in the maintenance platforms — U-shaped structures known as travelers that are powered by diesel engines and hug the bridge on both sides and bottom to give workers access to the bridge's underside and hard-to-reach areas.

The alleged problem with the platforms remains unclear because the information was redacted from the court documents. A spokesperson for Shimmick said that was done for security reasons and that it will be up to the judge to make the information public.

The joint venture has completed approximately 47 percent of the net and expects to finish it by December 2023, nearly four years behind schedule. Adding the net requires the maintenance platforms to be reconfigured. The upgraded platforms are not expected to be completed until January 2026.

The contractors claim bridge officials also changed the design of the net when the project was already underway and imposed unnecessary requirements on the contractors that drove costs higher and caused delays. They cited a scaffolding standard not required by the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board and said the district failed to obtain a waiver until this February for the federal requirement to buy the steel needed in the U.S.

“Rather than acknowledge its own mistakes, the district seeks to hold SDJV hostage and have it complete the work with no adjustment in price,” the contractors said in court documents. “In other words, the district wants to pay only $142 million for a project that will cost well over $398 million because of the district’s mistakes.”

Suicide prevention advocates said they are frustrated by the delays because they are costing lives.

Muller said that even though part of the net has been built, suicides are happening at the usual rate of about two or three per month.

“This has been a life-and-death matter for 85 years,” Muller said. 

Firm to Build $350M Worth of Projects in Central Valley

Swinerton, the California based builder with more than 130 years of experience, announced recently that it is contracted to deliver more than $350 million of construction to California’s Central Valley over the next three years. The project work spans education, medical, civic and gaming industries and will create more than 400 new construction industry jobs in the region during that time.

The Central Valley has always been a vital region for Swinerton, which traces its roots to the area when its founder, Charles Lindgren, helped rebuild the city of Bakersfield following a devastating fire in 1889. Swinerton plans to construct more than 533,000 sq.-ft. for six projects in the area, including the $72 million renovation and expansion of Tachi Palace Casino and the $22.3 million police station for the city of Los Banos. While many of the projects are in the pre-construction and planning phases, Swinerton recently completed preconstruction and construction services to convert a K-Mart into a new 93,000 sq.-ft. T-Mobile Customer Experience Center in Kingsburg. Swinerton’s planning and work on the adaptive reuse project led to an

early project completion for the client.

“Swinerton is thrilled to be back in the Central Valley helping clients execute their visions, while paying homage to our roots to deliver quality construction to the area,” said Jeff Good, vice president of Swinerton. “With the T-Mobile project, we were able to collaborate with several partners to create a high-energy space, full of amenities for the company’s customer experience employees.”

To further support and create additional jobs in the area and the local economy, Swinerton is hosting recruiting events at Tioga Brewery in Fresno. The events will allow local subcontractors to learn about upcoming job opportunities and network with the Swinerton leadership team.

Swinerton is committed to helping the community in addition to creating jobs and constructing new buildings in the Central Valley. In 2021, Swinerton donated and packaged hygiene products to aid youth experiencing homelessness in Fresno and Kingsburg; and this holiday season, the company raised funds and hosted a toy drive for the Los Banos Police Activities League, a non-profit helping local youth.

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