ASCE Sacramento Section Utility Project of the Year Award

Alternative Pipeline Alignment Saves $900,000 in Construction Costs

The Placer County Water Agency (PCWA) Boardman Canal conveys domestic and irrigation water from the western slope of the Sierra Nevadas to foothill and valley communities in Placer County. The canal transitions into a buried pipeline (Gold Run Pipeline) between Dutch Flat and Gold Run. It runs along a narrow right-of-way at the top edge of a bluff between the Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR) tracks and Interstate 80 (I-80). During PG&E outages in November, the Gold Run system provides all of the raw water for PCWA customers.

Phase 4 of the Gold Run project includes the construction of 5,000 feet of 36-inch ductile iron pipe to replace and extend the existing pipeline and relocation of the Gold Run Pipe inlet facilities upstream to the Monte Vista Water Treatment Plant.

Bennett Engineering Services provided specific solutions to allow for an alternative pipeline alignment that saved more than $900,000 in construction costs. This project required coordination with UPRR for new pipeline parallel to the tracks, permits for Caltrans for I-80 crossings and facilities within the Caltrans right-of-way, and Placer County for rights-of-way.

“Bennett Engineering Services provided a second look at a pipeline alignment that was previously rejected and developed a method to overcome the problems.  This alignment was subsequently selected and PCWA anticipates a construction cost savings of more than $900,000.”

Ken Powers, retired PCWA

08451