The New Irvington Tunnel is a 3-1/2 mile long, 8.5-foot finished, improved delivery water conveyance tunnel, built parallel to an existing tunnel between the Sunol Valley and Fremont, California. The first tunnel, completed in 1930, was a critical link in San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) Hetch Hetchy water supply system. Over the years following construction, water supply demands in the Bay Area grew to a level that the first tunnel could not be shut down for maintenance or repair without severely impacting water supply for over 2.5 million customers.
The $250 million new tunnel was designed by AECOM to provide seismic resiliency and improved delivery reliability to a critical link in the water delivery system. The tunnel is a key project in the SFPUC’s Water Supply Improvement Program, which includes over 80 major capital improvement projects and has a total budget of $4.5 billion. AECOM provided design services for five of the largest projects in the program, totaling over $1 billion in constructed value.