A fast-tracked effort to create a temporary campus for the Palisades Charter High School in Los Angeles was completed in April by C.W. Driver Cos., just three months after a wildfire devastated the school’s campus. A 100,000-sq-ft former Sears department store in downtown Santa Monica was transformed into a temporary campus for approximately 2,500 students in just four weeks. The once-vacant retail space now contains classrooms as well as administrative offices and common areas to accommodate students and faculty. Temporary partitions with sound stage style sound blankets were used create classrooms of varying sizes within the open floor plan. A new air-conditioning system was installed, and fire alarm and fire suppression systems were extended to meet code requirements. C.W. Driver was able to speed up the project timeline due to a close collaboration between the city of Santa Monica, the Santa Monica Fire Dept. and design firm Gensler. City officials fast-tracked permits and inspections, allowing fast-paced construction to proceed nearly around the clock.

Eleven firms have been selected by the U.S. Army for $495 million in contracts for construction in Hawaii. The selected firms are approved to compete for the orders that are part of the program. The contracts will cover a wide range of projects valued between $25 million and $100 million throughout the state of Hawaii in support of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Honolulu. Project scopes encompass vertical and horizontal construction such as paving, shore protection, renovation of existing buildings and new building construction. The firms selected include Absher Construction, ContiFederal Services, Environmental Chemical Corp., Stronghold Engineering, Haskell, Whiting-Turner Contracting, Hawaiian Dredging Construction, Hensel Phelps Construction, Kiewit Infrastructure West, Nan Inc. and Nordic PCL Construction.

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority has awarded the $997-million Southeast Gateway Line Project Advanced Works contract to the joint venture of Herzog and FlatironDragados. The project involves relocating 8.7 miles of existing freight tracks and utilities along a 14.5-mile-long right-of-way. The freight relocation process includes constructing 52,000 ft of new main line track, 26 new at-grade crossings and temporary track shooflies to maintain railroad operations during construction. A new elevated light rail station will be built as well as a pedestrian overhead bridge for access. Construction is slated to begin in 2027.

Construction on the Tenmile Slough levee project in Stockton, Calif., a component of the $1.95-billion larger Lower San Joaquin River Project, began in April. The 1.1-mile levee section is located adjacent to the Brookside community and is rated as the most critically deficient in the Central Valley levee system. Crews will improve the levee geometry and add erosion protection along the waterside of the levee. A seepage cutoff wall down the center of the levee will be built to help prevent water from making its way through or under the levee. The overall project will strengthen 23 miles of levee along the San Joaquin and Calaveras rivers. The effort is funded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the California Dept. of Water Resources and the San Joaquin Area Flood Control Agency. Completion of the entire project is estimated by 2037.

Fifty-six million gallons of chemical and radioactive waste will be processed at the Hanford Nuclear Waste Site in Washington state.
Photo courtesy Bechtel

The U.S. Dept. of Energy’s cold commissioning of the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) at the Hanford Nuclear Waste Site in southeast Washington state reached a key milestone recently as ammonia and nitrous oxide were added to melters. The chemicals replicate tank waste at the site before crews turn radioactive waste into vitrified glass. The project aims to dispose of 56 million gallons of chemical and radioactive waste now stored in underground tanks. When fully operational, the plant will process an average of 5,300 gallons of tank waste per day, mixing the treated waste with glass-forming materials, heating it to 2,100 degrees Fahrenheit and pouring it into stainless steel containers for long-term disposal.

San Francisco Public Works selected Arup to serve as the prime engineering consultant for San Francisco Public Utilities Commission’s Millbrae Campus Improvements project. The project will upgrade and expand the utility’s campus buildings while ensuring they can remain operational in the event of a seismic event. Two new buildings—an administrative office and water quality laboratory—will be constructed. Arup will work closely with SFPW’s architects, landscape architects and engineers to lead the engineering on the new buildings and provide sitewide specialty engineering design. Arup is working to deliver the work with five subconsultants: HRA Engineering & Energy Services, Vibro-Acoustics, Clearstory, Banks Landl and AR Green.

The Associated General Contractors of California and the AGC Construction Education Foundation announced a new partnership with the Sacramento Asian Pacific Chamber of Commerce and its Regional Small Business Utilization Center in May. The partnership aims to increase procurement readiness and help diverse contractors across the Sacramento region—including Sacramento, Yolo and Placer counties—to compete for and secure major construction contracts. As part of the joint initiative, the participating groups will provide small construction businesses with resources that include targeted education and training, mentorship and technical assistance, access to matchmaking opportunities with AGC general contractors and ongoing business development support.

The first mass timber building for the California State University was completed in May on the Chico State campus. The $14.5-million, 22,000-sq-ft, two-story University Services Building will consolidate operations into one location. The design build team included Swinerton Builders, Timberlab and Dreyfuss + Blackford Architecture. According to Swinerton, the prefabrication of structural timber components played a critical role in accelerating the schedule and minimizing disruption to ongoing campus activities.