Construction Projects

About Project

The Ophir Road and American River Pump Station Standby Generator project will install two, 2.5 Megawatt (MW) diesel generators, one each at two critical Agency pumping facilities. These two pump stations supply the Agency’s secondary water supply source, American River water, to Agency water treatment plants and irrigation customers when normal water deliveries via PG&E’s south canal are restricted or unavailable. The project was initiated as of the result of PG&E’s initiation of Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS) beginning in 2019. Agency rented mobile standby generators in 2019 and 2020. Upon completion of the project this year, the generators will provide permanent standby power beginning in the fall of 2021.

Project Location

The project work is taking place at the Agency’s Ophir Road Pump Station on Ophir Road and on the access road to the American River Pump Station in the American River canyon.

Construction Timeline

The project work is taking place at the Agency’s Ophir Road Pump Station on Ophir Road and on the access road to the American River Pump Station in the American River canyon.

Latest Update - 7/20/2021

Overhead power work for the project has begun and will take approximately 2-3 weeks to complete. To ensure public safety, the road down into the canyon above where the electrical work is occurring and will be close to recreational traffic and members of the public beginning 7/21.

Thank you in advance for your patience and understanding. If you have any further questions, please call our Customer Services center at 530.823.4850

Update - 7/19/2021

Due to urgent construction at our American River Pump Station, located in the American River canyon, nearby residents may hear construction activities in the early morning hours of Thursday, July 22nd. This construction work will keep essential infrastructure operating during PG&E power shutoffs.

Project Description

Hell Hole Dam is a zoned rock and earth fill structure, which consists of an impervious clay core that holds back the water; two filter zones (of fine and coarse material) that keep the clay core in place; and rockfill slopes that create a “shell” on both the downstream and upstream sides. PCWA is raising the dam core to permit the installation of a gate on the spillway that will allow us to capture an additional 6 feet of water depth (about 6,000 acre-feet) during wet years. Most of the additional water will be released over the spillway in a controlled manner to enhance environmental and recreational flows in the Rubicon River downstream; however, the Agency will be able to use some of the water to increase hydropower generation.

Project Schedule

The project is currently in progress and expected to conclude in October of 2020.

About Project

This project includes raw water and treated water pipelines that connect to existing pipelines located south of I-80, then traverse south, primarily on private property, crossing Indian Hill Road and Glenview Road, before traveling along Powerhouse Road and terminating at the Foothill WTP.

The Foothill Raw Water Pipelines - Phase 2 Project will provide the Placer County Water Agency (PCWA) a means to deliver raw water from the American River to the Foothill Water Treatment Plant (WTP) independently of the normal supply of raw water from PG&E’s South Canal in an emergency or during PG&E’s annual fall outage; when the Agency’s raw water supply is shut down for annual maintenance. The Project includes the ability to transfer treated drinking water from the future Ophir WTP to the Foothill WTP. The project also gives PCWA a means for supplementing the current PG&E raw water allotment to meet its expanding service area demands.

Description

The Foothill Raw Water Pipelines - Phase 2 project includes two primary components, 1) the completion of the Foothill Raw Water Pipeline and 2) construction of a treated water pipeline and related facilities to deliver treated water from the future Ophir Road Water Treatment Plant to the Agency’s Foothill/Sunset System. The Project consists of:

• 7,300-feet of 12-inch, 18-inch and 24-inch treated water pipeline
• 650-feet of 45-inch pipe in Ophir Road and removal of two interties
• 7,866-feet of 33-inch to 39-inch pipeline from Dutch Ravine to the Foothill WTP, and Standpipe
• 160-feet of 60-inch casing - open shield pipe jacking – UPRR crossing
• Stand pipe overflow, cleaning railroad tunnel, and drain
• Energy dissipation structure at Dutch Ravine
• Energy dissipation structures at the Foothill WTP
• Pump Station Improvements at Ophir Road
• Fiber Optic System
• 12-Inch Intertie at the Newcastle Tank

Project Schedule

The project is scheduled to begin construction in February 2020 and complete October 2021.

Upcoming Work (updated May 14, 2021)

The Contractor will be performing the following construction activities in the next few weeks:

• Traffic delays are not anticipated along the construction corridor.

• Pipeline installation and testing anticipated completion is scheduled for mid-May.

• Ongoing activities to construct the Energy Dissipation Station at the Foothill Water Treatment Plant, including installation of the roofing, site grading restoration, fiber conduits, and electrical.

• Continue the erection of the Hydraulic Control Standpipe. The contractor is currently Coating the tank, installing electrical conduits, grading and paving around structure, and building a retaining wall.

• Continue modifications to the Ophir Road Pump Station to increase pump pressures to accommodate the project. Currently the contractor has shipped pump columns out for coating. Reinstallation of pumps and columns is planned for June 1.

• Continue the installation of the Fiber Optics innerduct, and remaining boxes.

• Start removing debris from the drainage tunnel under UPRRs tracks and start reestablishing drainage from the tunnel to the Dutch Ravine.

For questions regarding this project, contact:

Project Manager / Engineer
Heather Knutson
Phone: (530) 823-4951
E-mail: hknutson@pcwa.net

Project Description

The project will consist of replacing the existing 4” steel distribution water main within Cable Road, Alta Power House Road, and Timber (red line). The main has experienced several breaks throughout the years and is at the end of its useful life. The pipe that goes from Brown Road south east through several properties to Alta Bonnynook Road may be replaced by installing a main in Alta Power House Road (yellow line). All existing services will be replaced and/or reconnected.

A new water main (green) will also be installed along Cable Road beginning at the intersection of Cable Road and Timber Lane going east connecting to the existing 10” distribution main at the east end of Cable Road. A pressure reducing station (PRS) will be included to connect two distinct pressure zones. The purpose of the new line is to increase the reliability of service by providing redundancy to a portion of the system.

Project Schedule

• Survey, geotechnical exploration, and other information gathering – 2019
• Design – 2019-2020
• Advertise/Award – Late 2020
• Construction – 2021

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s)

What are surveyors doing in my area?

Surveyors will be in the neighborhood to begin work by collecting various points of interest (e.g. meter boxes, elevations, existing site improvements, etc.). This includes locating and identifying trees by tagging them with a unique ID tag.

Can I remove tree tags?

No please don’t; these will be critical through the design phase to accurately map the trees on the plans and identify them in the field during construction.

Will new fire hydrants be added?

Currently, hydrants are spaced more than 1,000 feet apart in this area. PCWA standards call for hydrants to be spaced at a maximum of 500 feet for residential areas, 350 feet for commercial and industrial areas. This will require the construction of new hydrants.

For questions regarding this project, contact:

PCWA Associate Engineer
Jordan Jakobsen
Phone: (530) 823-4950
E-mail: jjakobsen@pcwa.net

About Project

The Lake Alta Dam project is a multi-year project to address regulation changes since the two Lake Alta dams were installed. Originally constructed for mining activities in the 1850’s, the dams have been in continuous service ever since. This facility is an important component of PCWA’s water delivery system, and this project will ensure lake levels, vegetation, and drainage comply with current regulatory requirements. See below for document links for this project.

Project Location

The Lake Alta Dam Safety Project is located in the Town of Alta, near Bonny Nook Drive.

Construction Timeline

Consultants are currently gathering information on-site to be used to design improvements to the dams. Completion of design of improvements to the dams is anticipated in 2020. Any future construction work will proceed upon completion of design and regulatory approvals.

Latest Update

PCWA removed dead and dying trees in 2017 the vicinity of the dams to comply with direction from the California Division of Safety of Dams (DSOD). In winter of 2018/2019 PCWA collected bore samples from each of the dams. These samples were analyzed and will be incorporated into design of the necessary improvements.

For questions regarding this project, contact:

Project Manager / Engineer
Kelly Shively
Phone: (530) 863-8384
E-mail: kshively@pcwa.net