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.

The Mayfield booster pump station (BPS) was originally constructed in 1970 and had reached the extent of its expected service life. California American Water (CAW) had decided to replace the BPS with a modern premanufactured below-ground pump station that would alleviate several of the issues that were identified in the BPS condition assessment. The new BPS provides for more efficient operation with variable frequency drive (VFD) domestic water pumps; additional fire flow capacity to meet county requirements; emergency generator; ventilation; sound attenuation; and greater accessibility for maintenance. 

WHB Engineers provided preliminary engineering services that included hydraulic analysis of the closed-loop service area using the Water CAD model and projected demands; surveying, geotechnical investigation; and development of a Basis of Design Memorandum that identified several options and associated cost estimates. Close coordination with premanufactured vendors, USEMCO and EFI, resulted in a preferred installation with little impact to the surrounding residential area.   

Both premanufactured vendors were solicited for bids based on performance specifications and preliminary engineering drawings. WHB Engineers provided bid support review and recommendations for purchase by CAW. In the Final design phase, WHB Engineers provided construction documents for the civil, structural, electrical, and traffic control improvements to support the installation of the BPS. Construction support services included attendance at meetings, response to requests for information (RFI), and submittal review. 

One of the major challenges in the project were the existing site constraints. The original BPS had been located within a small 12ft x 15ft easement between two residential properties on a steep slope with relatively shallow rock bed. In 1991 and 1995 electrical improvements were made to the BPS that extended beyond the easement property lines. The new BPS required a greater area to support the additional pumps, emergency generator, and greater accessibility for maintenance.

During preliminary design an alternative was developed to relocate the pump station to the adjacent street and allowing for the existing easement to be used for the new emergency generator. The alternative design minimized impact to the existing residents by not requiring additional easement acquisition and still allowed for the installation of the new larger BPS within the street right-of-way (ROW) with all the CAW desired features.