On Friday January 12th, OrgMetrics joined the City of San Francisco to celebrate the 6th Annual San Francisco Collaborative Partnering Awards and supported the outstanding showing for our 7 project teams during the event. Leaders from each of San Francisco’s Chapter Six Departments attended the event to show support for the City’s highest performing teams and the annual event. The breakfast ceremony, hosted at San Francisco Public Works headquarters at 49 South Van Ness, was simultaneously elegant, low-keyed and fun. It was a great day to celebrate project teams from all across San Francisco and we were honored to be a part of it.
The big winner of the day was the San Francisco International Airport Storm Drain Pump Station 1C Project, who took home a Gold Level Award and “Best in Class” for the 2023 Awards program. We will share highlights from each of the 7 project team’s OrgMetrics supported below.
Storm Drain Pump Station 1C Project
Category 1 (Under $20M) Infrastructure Projects
Gold Level Award and “Best in Class”
Owner: SFO Planning, Design, & Construction
Design/Builder: Yerba Buena Engineering & Construction, Inc.
A&E: Pannu Larsen McCartney, Inc.
CM: SFO
Other Key Team Member(s): Power Engineering Construction Co.
Facilitator: Rob Reaugh
The SFO Storm Drain Pump Station 1C Project involved the repair of the timber structure supporting three outfall pipes at the end of SFO’s Runway 19R. The outfall structure was failing and a collapse could lead to discharge of water into the bay and flooding of the Airfield Operations Area. The work required the retrofit of timber piles by cutting each off below the mudline at the point where the wood was still good, installing a fiberglass jacket around the base, then installing rebar and pumping in concrete to create a sturdy new concrete pile section.
This was Yerba Buena’s first project at SFO in many years and Yerba Buena’s President, Miguel Galarza, stated from the jump that he had two goals: 1. Have a very successful project so SFO and Yerba Buena would be excited to work together again and 2. Win a partnering award together!
Ultimately, the team finished all major scopes one month ahead of the “in water work window” completion and substantially completed the project 4 days early, while saving $264K through collaboration. They also completed the project with ZERO punchlist. A first for many of the project team members.
12kV Cable Replacement & System Upgrade Project
Category 1 (Under $20M) Infrastructure Projects
Gold Level Award
Owner: SFO Planning, Design, & Construction
Design/Builder: Schembri Construction
CM: SFO
Other Key Team Member(s): BASS Electric
Facilitator: Rob Reaugh
The SFO 12kV Cable Replacement & System Upgrade Project involved the replacement and installation of roughly 60,000 feet of medium voltage cable, establishing a new switchgear station, and providing temporary generators for load centers. The scope involved work at North McDonald Road and Westfield Road (both busy traffic areas for SFO) and in multiple confined spaces throughout the greater SFO campus.
This team resolved a difficult dewatering route issue where the environmental permits forced the team to avoid runoff into a nearby wetland area, and they also saved the project substantial time and money by minimizing night work. Ultimately, this team substantially completed the project in 325 days (275 days ahead of schedule!), safely, and within the project budget and contingency (noting that SFO purchased additional circuit breakers as stock for the critical Station BA).
(IPI Award team pic provided by Jeff Rumans Photography; SECC building pic provided by Henrik Kam Photography)
Southeast Community Center (SECC) Project Project
Category 2 (Over $20M) Buildings Projects
Gold Level Award
Owner: San Francisco Public Utilities Commission
Design/Builder: Charles Pankow Builders
A&E: San Francisco Public Works
CM: The Allen Group and San Francisco Public Works
Facilitator: Rob Reaugh
The SFPUC’s Southeast Community Center at 1550 Evans was a $115M facility built by and for the residents of Bayview. This was one of the first CM/GC projects implemented by the PUC and was the first time working with Pankow Builders.
This team committed from the outset to deliver this facility for and on behalf of the Bayview Community and went so far as to commit to both exceeding the local business but also the hyper local business goals, and they did a fantastic job of sharing stories of growth and improvement each day.
This high performing team relied on Partnering and established outstanding problem-solving skills from the outset by focusing on building a high trust culture. Working as one the team overcame a significant delay in permanent power and a design scope gap related to the curtain wall attachments. Perhaps most importantly, this team supported multiple small businesses and nearly 36% of the project’s budget was conducted by San Francisco local businesses.
Ultimately, the team delivered within the schedule, within the budget and contingency, saved the City an estimated $4M, and avoided serious injuries.
Heron’s Head Shoreline Resilience Project
Category 1 (Under $20M) Infrastructure Projects
Silver Level Award
Owner: Port of San Francisco
Design/Builder: Dixon Marine Services
A&E: Environmental Science Associates
CM: SKS Engineering and Joe Hill Consulting
Facilitator: Rob Reaugh
This $2.3M project’s scope involved the installation of a gravel beach, rock groyne structures and other safeguards to protect the wetlands from erosion and sea level rise.
This team was innovative – one example was the installation of a gabion system to bridge across the marsh to offer safe beach access. This system allowed them to re-use onsite gravel, which is both more efficient and ensures the materials are not introducing new pollutants. The team also needed to work through significant differences between the three-year old survey data of the tidal zone and the existing conditions, where the profile had changed and there were unstable soils. The team updated the design and reduced the material quantities addressing two issues at once, while saving the City an estimated $1M in project costs. This team finished the project safely, ahead of schedule, and added value while delivering within contingency.
Mariposa Dry Weather Pump Station Project
Category 1 (Under $20M) Buildings Projects
Silver Level Award
Owner: San Francisco Public Utilities Commission
Design/Builder: Western Water Construction, Inc.
A&E: San Francisco Public Works
CM: SFPUC
Facilitator: Rob Reaugh
The SFPUC’s Mariposa Dry Weather Pump Station Project was an $18.5M upgrade to this pump station, which conveys wastewater from the surrounding areas to the Southeast Treatment Plant. This critical infrastructure upgrade was needed to accommodate the UCSF Hospital and Laboratory upgrades, the Chase Center, Mission Rock, and other nearby programs in the southern part of San Francisco.
The project needed collaborative relationships between the owner and contractor team as well as with key community stakeholders like the nearby Ramp Restaurant and the adjacent boat rental business. The contractor, Western Water, and the City of San Francisco also implemented an innovation called the SoilFreeze shoring system for deep excavation, which provided a barrier preventing groundwater seepage into the excavation of the 31-foot deep system. The successful implementation of this new shoring system means that it is now available for future projects in small footprints. By working as a team, they saved the City $568K.
Rental Car Quick Turn Around (QTA) and Fire Sprinkler Replacement Program
Category 1 (Under $20M) Buildings Projects
Silver Level Award
Owner: SFO Planning, Design, and Construction
Design/Builder: Schembri Construction
CM: SFO
Facilitator: Rob Reaugh
Stakeholders: Bass Electric and Value Fire Protection
SFO’s Rental Car QTA Fire Sprinkler Replacement Program was a fast-tracked project in the 131,000 square foot Consolidated Rental Car Center Facility (CONRAC) at SFO. This is the 3rd busiest CONRAC in the United States and the fire sprinkler and fire alarm systems, which had been installed in 1999, had reached their usable life.
This team focused on the schedule and started with site investigations to ensure the scope could be aligned. Ultimately, this high performing team delivered the project two months ahead of schedule and $182,000 below budget by avoiding unnecessary fire watch. This schedule performance is particularly notable because they needed to conduct all work while the CONRAC remained operational. This involved a high level of customer service and flexibility with both the tenant rental car companies and the Real Estate Representatives who work with them daily.
SFMTA Van Ness Improvement Project
Category 2 (Over $20M) Infrastructure Projects
Bronze Level Award
Owner: San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency
Design/Builder: Walsh Construction
A&E: SFMTA
CM: SFMTA
Facilitator: Cinda Bond
The SFMTA Van Ness Corridor Transit Improvement Project was the first Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) service in San Francisco. This project has improved reliability for #49 Muni routes by shortening transit times by an estimated 30% while increasing ridership by nearly 33%.
The scope is a key element of the Vision Zero program and has enhanced Van Ness, a major corridor throughout the City. The scope involved installation of safety features including pedestrian bulb-outs and countdown timers, and eliminated the majority of left turns through the corridor. It also replaced the 100-year old sewer and water systems throughout the corridor while enhancing the urban design of Van Ness Avenue.
This team leveraged Partnering and the dispute resolution process to resolve more than $30M of issues, saving the city an estimated $1.8M, worked through a challenging subcontractor issue, and incorporated pragmatic cost-and schedule-saving strategies including slip-lining for aging pipelines and using full closures to recover nearly two months of schedule.
Ultimately, this team established effective multi-tiered Partnering for the Executive and Core teams and remained committed to resolving all issues in order to avoid any government code claims.
Join us in celebrating each of these outstanding project teams and make sure to be on the lookout for the great event and project photos which will be posted to the www.sfpartnering.com website!
– Rob
Rob Reaugh is President of OrgMetrics LLC. He facilitates the City and County of San Francisco Collaborative Partnering Steering Committee and currently works with San Francisco International Airport, San Jose International Airport, BART, Caltrans, and others. He holds a Masters’ Degree in Alternative Dispute Resolution.
For more information please contact Rob Reaugh, RobReaugh@Orgmet.com / (925) 487-2404 (cell), or OrgMetrics, (925) 449-8300.
