As part of a five-contract major SMART program expansion, Shimmick was the design-builder for the $69 million Construction Package 4. This project extended over 42 miles of rail line requiring ten stations, track installation, rail operations, and maintenance facility and storage yard, four park-and-ride facilities, seven multi-use pathways for bicycle and pedestrian traffic, a bascule bridge over the environmentally sensitive Petaluma River, and the retrofit of a 100-year-old tunnel, several grade crossings and several miles of new transit rail track installation, all within feet of an active freight rail line. This project consisted of reconstructing an owner-provided bascule bridge from Galveston, Texas, to create the new Haystack Bridge in Petaluma, California.
The project team came up with innovative solutions to overcome challenges and accelerate construction. For example, the requirements of the trackway allowed for minimal short-term settlement and required a method for accelerating the existing soil settlement. The project team designed and implemented a wick drain/surcharge system to successfully accomplish this task. The project team also designed and implemented MOT plans for the locations where the at-grade alignment crossed local streets along the 42-mile alignment.
Shimmick’s approach and commitment to managing the cost and scope of the Operations and Maintenance Facility reduced the cost by approximately 20 percent. The team worked with the general manager and district engineer in concert with the operations manager and available staff directly and proposed alternates on cost-saving materials.
Additionally, based on Shimmick’s expertise in delivering other similar operation and maintenance facility sites, the team agreed on the functions necessary to make their operations safe and efficient. Shimmick returned 100 percent of the savings to SMART and delivered the facility on-time with zero change orders.
This project won the 2016 ASCE San Francisco Section Haystack Bridge Project of the Year.
