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SFPUC reports delays and a $9.7 million cost increase in several wastewater projects
Summary
The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission learned of multiple schedule delays and a near-$10 million redesign cost tied to a sewer reroute at Kansas/Marin Street during the wastewater capital program quarterly update. Staff also flagged interdepartmental utility conflicts and schedule shifts on Van Ness, Geary and Terrell projects.
Karen Kubik, director of the SFPUC Wastewater Capital Program, told the commission the enterprise’s quarterly red-dot report highlights several projects that have slipped or exceeded budget thresholds. She said the seismic reliability improvements are delayed by 21 months because the work depends on a retrofit at the Southeast Treatment Plant and related headworks work. ‘‘They’re contiguous; they’re start-to-finish type projects,’’ she said.
Kubik said West Side pump station reliability improvements were put through value engineering to reduce scope and will need about 18 additional months to update plans and specifications. A separate sewer routing effort through the BMW lot at Kansas and Marin streets failed to reach agreement with the private property owner; staff is redesigning the route to use Department of Public Works property and converting the work into a tunneling project, which adds approximately $9,700,000 to the estimate. ‘‘We didn’t want to move forward with eminent domain,’’ Kubik said.
Staff also described interdepartmental delays where utility conflicts and contractual coordination with MTA are driving timing on Van Ness and Geary projects, and added six months for utility verification on Terrell to pothole and locate conduits. The Folsom Area stormwater tunnel engineering RFP was extended seven months to maximize consultant outreach.
Kubik closed by reminding commissioners that the Sewer System Improvement Program (SSIP) re-baselining of phase 1 projects is scheduled for April 24; she noted a later agenda item on the meeting would cover biosolids construction planning.
Next steps: staff will present the SSIP re-baselining on April 24 and bring continuing updates to the commission as schedule and cost information is refined.
