Demolition and Soil Remediation, LCC Program

PIVOX Corporation served as construction contractor and construction manager for cleanup, demolition, and soil removal at several sites as part of PG&E’s Land Conservation Commitment (LCC) program. The PG&E LCC program was implemented by PG&E with the goal of permanently conserving PG&E historical watershed properties and donating these for benefit to the public.

PIVOX served as construction manager and general contractor for site cleanup, demolition, underground storage tank removal, soil remediation, and restoration at four LCC sites located in Shasta, Tuolumne, Nevada, and Fresno counties in northern and central California. Site cleanup and demolition consisted of installation of erosion control measures, asbestos abatement, removal of underground storage tanks and piping, and demolition of cabins, warehouse, office, and barn structures. Soil remediation consisted of hand-dig and mechanical excavation of impacted soils, backfill with imported fill, and transportation and disposal at PG&E-approved disposal facilities. Restoration consisted of surface grading, stabilization and hydroseed application on all disturbed areas.

Each site was located in remote, mountainous locales, with significant topography and limited access at each site.  Cleanup and remediation at each site required a tailored, site-specific approach. Site safety risks unique to this program, in addition to standard construction hazards, included wildfire and hantavirus. Wildfire risks were mitigated by coordinating closely with local fire agencies during construction, eliminating any “hot-work” construction methods, and training and equipping the field team with fire control equipment to quickly extinguish sparks or embers before they could ignite. Hantavirus risks were mitigated by employing aggressive dust control, equipping personnel with PPE, and thoroughly cleaning cabins and similar structures prior to demolition.

The project team took a programmatic approach for these sites; PIVOX, PG&E and the project consultant completed detailed pre-construction site visits to assess site access constraints and safety risks, working clearances and the appropriate level of construction intensity that could be safely executed, developed operational plans for all PIVOX LCC sites concurrently, sequenced multiple LCC sites to be completed within summer construction seasons, and scheduled field operations to allow crews to mobilize directly from one site to the next, reducing schedule duration and mobilization/demobilization costs.