WHB has an 80 year history of providing civil engineering services for public clients.  Our talented staff can take a project from preliminary design through engineering services support during construction.

One recent project is Phase 2 of the Almond Grove Street Reconstruction Project in Los Gatos, CA.  The scope of work included reconstruction of 8 intersecting streets within the quaint historic Almond Grove neighborhood adjacent to Los Gatos’ downtown hub.  The residents strongly desired to replace damaged concrete roads in kind with new concrete pavements in order to preserve the neighborhood’s character.

WHB lead a series of community meetings to inform residents of the design appearance and illustrate the impact on trees and neighborhood walkways.  We coordinated closely with subconsultants to prepare tree planting plans and a new jointed plain concrete pavement section that did not require steel reinforcement.  This design achieved our goal of increasing the tree canopy in Almond Grove while reducing environmental impacts and construction costs.

We also performed comprehensive topographic surveys of the project streets.  As part of the design, the streets were raised several inches to minimize construction impacts on existing shallow utilities.  WHB prepared detailed grading designs that ensured that the new streets’ improvements conformed to existing elevations at the back of sidewalk while also draining stormwater safely away from homes.  These designs were made possible by our survey and field evaluations by project engineers.

WHB provided steadfast engineering support to the Town during construction, which spanned 3 construction seasons and required intensive coordination with residents and stakeholders.

We take great enjoyment with working with private developers to guide and advocate for them during the subdivision map recordation process.  Several of our upper staff members are former public servants who have great understanding of the Subdivision Map Act and public sector’s nuanced requirements for entitlement approval.

Natoma Oaks is a tract of high end homes set above Matadero Creek.  WHB worked exhaustively with the developer and the Town throughout the map approval process.  The site featured a myriad of constraints including groves of heritage oaks, a protected creek bed, wildlife habitats, two dormant landslides, a deep colluvium deposit, and a hillside with slopes exceeding 100%.

The team performed design and construction management of the subdivision improvements.  WHB’s design is keenly considerate of the extremely sensitive site and features landslide and colluvium deposit stabilization measures along with stormwater hydromodification and bioretention facilities engineered to protect the creek for generations to come.  This project was the first project within the town to include bioretention.