Subsurface Utility Engineering for Gerald Desmond Bridge Replacement

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Related Services:
Subsurface Utility Engineering & Coordination
Utility Research and Mapping
Pipeline Engineering & Design
Electrical Engineering & Design
Civil Engineering & Design
Construction Management
Procurement & Material Management

Related Projects:
Location:Port of Long Beach
Client:Prime Contractor and Utility Owners
Project Type:Subsurface Utility Engineering, Coordination, and Design
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Project Description:

A critical part of the nation’s port infrastructure, the Gerald Desmond Bridge Replacement Project will provide a structurally sound/seismically resistant bridge that will improve vehicular capacity and marine vessel safety in and around the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles. It will also allow the newest generation of cargo ships to pass under it.

The design-build project involves the replacement of an existing bridge and relocation of over $100MM worth of oil field facilities and utilities impacted by the Port of Long Beach Gerald Desmond Bridge Replacement Project. The new replacement bridge is being built adjacent to the existing bridge in an area previously occupied by oil production facilities, oil pipelines, and other above and below ground utilities. After removal/relocation of these conflicting facilities and substructures, bridge construction began the first quarter of 2013 and is scheduled to be complete by the fourth quarter of 2018.

SPEC Services managed the utility research and coordination within the project area as part of the team preparing the Design Build Request for Proposal. Scope included: utility research, documentation, pothole investigation, utility coordination, preliminary construction cost estimates and schedules, review of design build proposals for utility impacts, and utility risk evaluation. Documents prepared included: utility plans, pothole plans, utility conflict matrix, utility conflict plans, and conceptual relocation plans for utility conflicts. In addition, SPEC worked closely with utility owners, property owners, and all agencies involved with the project to identify and document utilities and provide preliminary layouts for conflict resolution. SPEC also planned and coordinated the Bridge Support pothole/trenching operation to expose key structure locations to verify and document known and undocumented utilities. Following project award to the design build contractor, SPEC Services continued to provide utility coordination services for the review of submittals and requests for information from the design build contractor.

SPEC Services was awarded a separate contract for the relocation and demolition of facilities at the NRG Generating Plant on Terminal Island that conflicted with the proposed bridge footprint. Facilities relocated included: water pipelines above and below ground, drain pipelines, electrical conduit, and a dewatering system with dewatering wells.

Under subsequent contracts, SPEC Services performed design, engineering, procurement, and construction management for the protection, relocation, and demolition of oil and gas facilities impacted by the Gerald Desmond Bridge Replacement project.

Special Challenges:
Unknown utilities were anticipated due to the long history of port development and oil field production in the area, and the subsidence and backfilling of the land by over 20 feet during that time. A systematic process of research, documentation, pothole/trench investigation, and survey allowed for the early identification and resolution of many potential conflicts with subsurface utilities and structures.

This project exemplifies the wide range of knowledge and experience that SPEC Services provides to accomplish all aspects of utility coordination and engineering from the earliest concept through project completion.

— PHOTOS 1 AND 2 COURTESY OF THE PORT OF LONG BEACH