For the last three years, CGEA has made an effort to recognize projects with smaller- (“normal”) sized budgets. In the past, many of the winners have been very large projects with gargantuan budgets. Thus, CGEA has been successful in attracting submissions of projects that are indeed outstanding, but in the past might not have been considered for an award, when compared to the larger submissions.
At our Annual Conference recently held in Scottsdale, Arizona, the following firms were awarded this year's (2001-2002) Outstanding Project Awards:
Company:
Kleinfelder, Inc. - Pleasanton Office
Project Name:
Crestview/Pinehurst Landslide; Millbrae, California
Project Manager, Michael Majchrzak provided attendees with a very interesting presentation of this project. A two-plus-acre landslide located in the middle of an existing residential neighborhood occurred in March 2000 within an existing 160-foot, 40-year-old cut slope in Millbrae. The toe of the landslide encroached onto six residential properties, partly damaging three homes and destroying one, with a 60-foot-high scarp formed within the rear yards of five residences. The landslide became a media event with significant impact to people living around the landslide, as well as the entire Millbrae community.
All work involved need to be completed within an extremely tight time frame in order to stabilize the hillside before the next rainy season. A number of challenges had to be overcome including developing new methodology in establishing shear resistance of the melange material; returning the hillside to its original oversteepened configuration; providing temporary stability during the intermediate winter, thus allowing residents to return to their homes; providing stability of the property above the scarp during the repair; and providing seismic stability for a large magnitude earthquake on the adjacent San Andreas fault.
For more information on this project, click on this link: http://www.kleinfelder.com/new.html
Company:
Diaz-Yourman & Associates
Project Name:
Henry Ford Avenue Grade Separation; Los Angeles/Long Beach, California
An overview of this project and it’s complexities was provided by project manager, Chris Diaz. This project involved the placement of an elevated roadway with a 30-foot-high MSE wall on soft soils that happened to be liquefiable. This work was all accomplished immediately adjacent to a Caltrans freeway ramp built in the late 1940s as part of the war effort. This project also included the use of several innovative ground improvement technologies such as use of vibro concrete columns and stone columns in one project for liquefaction mitigation and settlement control and the placement of a separation wall to allow for settlement of the new structure relative to the adjacent existing ramp. Also, included in the presentation was a description of how the communication chain worked on a large project.
Company:
R.T. Frankian & Associates
Project Name:
Golden Valley Road Phase 1 and High School
Present at the conference to receive the award was project managers Dean Francuch and Alan Rasplicka. This project involved the creation of an extremely large pad, termed a "mega pad", grading of over one mile of road, and the creation of two smaller building pads. The grading magnitude was impressive; however, the difficulties encountered during the placement of the numerous keys, such as high-pressure gas lines, communication towers and the discovery additional landslides made for an exciting project. The complexity and the short time frame for construction were aptly demonstrated in their slide presentation outlining their work.
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