November 5, 2024 Delivered via email
Mohamed Alaoui, Director of Public Works
City of Emeryville
1333 Park Ave
Emeryville, CA 94608
RE: Noise Waiver Request for EBMUD North Interceptor Rehabilitation – Emeryville Dear Mr. Alaoui,
REQUEST
The East Bay Municipal Utility District (District) is hereby requesting a waiver from the City of Emeryville Noise Ordinance to allow for night work as part of the urgent construction project to rehabilitate the District’s North Interceptor, which extends through the City of Emeryville, adjacent to the Interstate-80 (I-80) freeway. Construction activities are scheduled from April to November 2025, with night work expected during June to August.
BACKGROUND
The North Interceptor collects sewage from the Cities of Richmond, Albany, El Cerrito, Berkeley, Emeryville, and parts of Oakland before discharging to the District’s Main Wastewater Treatment Plant, located near the I-80/580 freeway maize.
The project includes rehabilitating approximately 2,500 linear feet of the North Interceptor and five manholes. This portion of the interceptor extends through the City of Emeryville, between 64th Street and the Powell Street Plaza (refer to Exhibit A). The interceptor is 66-inch diameter, reinforced concrete pipe, which is 70 years old and is badly corroded in a number of locations. This is currently the District’s highest priority interceptor repair project.
Interceptor rehabilitation will include installation of a cured-in-place pipe (CIPP) liner, which requires dewatering the existing pipeline. This pipe rehabilitation method avoids the need to excavate the entire length of pipe. Dewatering involves a main bypass pumping system for the main interceptor flows and three smaller pumping systems to divert flows for each of the City of Emeryville trunk sewers. Manhole rehabilitation requires removal of deteriorated concrete and installation of a new mortar and epoxy lining.
1. Project Schedule: The estimated project schedule is provided as Exhibit B, and is summarized as follows:
• EBMUD Awards Construction Contract Feb. 2025
• Onsite Construction Activities May-Sep. 2025
• Bypass Pump System Operation Jul./Aug. 2025
• Site Restoration Complete – Demobilization Nov. 2025
Mohamed Alaoui
November 5, 2024
NIGHTTIME CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITIES
Most of the work will be conducted during the daytime (7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.), but some of the work will require nighttime activities, summarized as follows.
1. Temporary Bypass Pumping System: The temporary bypass pumps and piping can be installed in the daytime, but the bypass pumping system must operate around the clock, seven days a week for six to eight weeks. The bypass pumping system will include the following:
a. Main Interceptor Bypass Pumping System: This bypass pumping system will be constructed in La Coste Street to divert the main interceptor flows through temporary piping parallel to the interceptor to the discharge point behind the stores in the Powell Street Plaza. b. Sidestream Pumping at Pacific Park Plaza Apartments: Two smaller temporary pumping systems will be required to intercept flows from the City of Emeryville trunk sewers. The ideal location for these pumping systems will be at the nearest upstream manholes, but due to noise considerations the District may be able to locate them closer to the I-80 fence line. c. Sidestream Pumping at Powell Street: Smaller pumps will be required to intercept sidestream flows from two City of Emeryville trunk sewers.
d. Bypass Piping: A temporary pipeline carrying bypass flows will be constructed above grade parallel to the interceptor alignment at the I-80 fence line, extending from the bypass pumping pit at La Coste Street down to a discharge manhole behind the Banana Republic store in the Powell Street Plaza Shopping Center. Construction of this pipeline will be in the daytime. At Powell Street, this pipeline will have to be buried and some of the work to cross Powell Street will have to take place at night to minimize traffic interruptions.
2. CIPP Insertion Pit: A mid-point insertion pit will be required along the interceptor in the I-80 eastbound on-ramp, close to the Denny’s restaurant. The CIPP liner will be inserted in both directions from this pit. The office buildings adjacent to the on-ramp are vacant, and the District has secured easements with the property owner so that the contractor can use the parking lot for staging. a. Pit Construction: It will take approximately three weeks to construct the pit and provide a temporary opening in the interceptor pipe. This work must take place at night because the onramp will have to be closed, and Caltrans will only allow on-ramp closure from 10:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. This work will overlap with the bypass pumping system operation. After the pit is constructed, the on-ramp will remain open nights, even during liner installation. b. CIPP Liner Installation: Prior to and during liner installation, the area adjacent to the pit will have significant contractor activity, many times at night. Once the CIPP liner installation starts, it will only take a matter of days for completion.
c. Pit Restoration: It will take approximately three weeks to remove the shoring and restore the pit after the CIPP liner is installed. This includes time to repair the opening in the interceptor pipe, remove shoring, restore any utilities, backfill, and then complete the final paving and restriping.
These activities may require a few nighttime on-ramp closures.
Mohamed Alaoui
November 5, 2024
3. Manhole Rehabilitation: There are five manholes that will be rehabilitated under this project – N31, N32, N32E, N33, and N34. These are located on the interceptor in the same segment to be lined. The interior of the manholes will have deteriorated concrete removed and replaced with new mortar and an epoxy lining. Removal of the existing deteriorated concrete will involve hydroblasting or small chipping tools that may generate noise.
a. Manholes N32 and N33: These two manholes are located in the eastbound I-80 emergency lane, and because they require one lane of traffic to be taken out of service, Caltrans limits access to the nighttime between 10:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m. Rehabilitation work will take approximately two weeks for each manhole. Multiple crews will be required so that manhole rehabilitation on separate manholes can proceed simultaneously. b. Manholes N31, N32E and N34: Manhole work on these manholes is generally not limited by Caltrans restrictions; so, it is expected that rehabilitation can proceed during daytime hours.
Multiple crews will be assigned to rehabilitating these manholes. This work will also overlap with operation of the bypass pumping system.
NOISE LEVELS
1. Ambient Noise Levels: The North Interceptor alignment through the City of Emeryville, generally follows the I-80 Caltrans fence line and right of way. Typically, freeway ambient noise levels are 70-80 dBA at 50 feet from the fence line. This level drops by approximately 6 dBA with each doubling of the distance from the fence line.
2. Goals During Construction: The goal for nighttime noise during construction activities will be to not exceed the ambient levels prior to construction, with a goal not to exceed 60 dBA. A level of 60 dBA is roughly equivalent to conversation or a dishwasher.
3. Noise Monitoring: The District will monitor ambient noise levels in the next month to include these in the contractor’s construction documents. In addition, during construction, the contractor will be required to monitor and document nighttime noise levels. This will include ambient, preconstruction levels as well as levels during nighttime (6:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m.) construction activities.
4. Requirements for Noise Dampening Equipment: The construction contractor will be required to provide noise abatement measures such as sound enclosures and sound walls around generators and pumps as necessary to meet the noise level goals.
COORDINATION WITH THE CITY OF EMERYVILLE
1. Coordination To Date: The District’s engineering staff has been meeting with the City of Emeryville engineering staff regularly for the past year to review the planned rehabilitation work and to provide the necessary coordination. The District has also involved its community outreach staff, which will be providing notification of construction activities to City of Emeryville residents and will serve as a point of contact during construction.
2. City Council Briefing: As part of the request for a Noise Waiver, District staff is scheduled to provide a briefing for the City of Emeryville City Council meeting on December 10, 2024.
3. Anticipated Update to the Waiver: After the District’s contractor is brought onboard in February 2025, there will likely be some contractor-initiated changes to construction activities, duration, and Mohamed Alaoui
November 5, 2024
sequencing described in this letter. Any changes will be brought to the attention of the City of Emeryville staff and, if requested, the District will schedule an update with the City of Emeryville City Council.
4. Public Outreach: As required by the Noise Ordinance, the District will mail notices to property owners and site addresses near the construction sites. Due to the project’s potential large area of construction impact and specific impacts at the I-80 on-ramp, the District will mail notices to property owners and site addresses for the entire City of Emeryville. Mailed postcards will be sent out approximately six weeks prior to the actual start of construction, and email notices, including Nextdoor notifications, will be sent out approximately five weeks prior to start of construction. The District will also create a webpage to provide the public with additional project details and explain how the project will impact the community. Additional, intermittent notifications will be distributed as needed and as requested by the City of Emeryville.
SUMMARY
The District is requesting that the City Council of the City of Emeryville grant a waiver from the Noise Ordinance for the North Interceptor at Emeryville Rehabilitation project.
Sincerely,
Garin Warren
Manager of Wastewater Engineering
MA:GW:bpd
Attachment: Exhibit A – Location Map
Exhibit B – Schedule
cc: B. Dunstan, A. Mansour
W:\nab\In-house design\2. Active SD Projects\SD454 North Interceptor (Emeryville)\.D Outside Correspondence\City of Emeryville\20 - Noise Waiver\30 - Noise Waiver Letter\City of Emeryville Noise Waiver.docx