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Location: Contra Costa & Alameda Counties, California
Owner/Client: East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD)
00The Claremont Tunnel is a major priority of EBMUD’s 10-year seismic improvement program. The existing tunnel is an 18,000-linear foot, 9-foot diameter horseshoe tunnel that carries treated water from the Orinda Filtration Plant through the Berkeley Hills to three distribution aqueducts. The tunnel construction was completed in 1928 and is lined with a combination of reinforced and unreinforced concrete. The tunnel alignment crosses an actively creeping portion of the Hayward Fault Zone for a length of 920 feet. Studies indicate that a large-scale seismic event on the Hayward Fault would result in up to a 7.5 foot earth shift causing severe damage to the tunnel. Since the tunnel accounts for the water supply for 70 percent of the District’s customers, strengthening this link is critical to the success of the Seismic Improvement Program.
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