Interstate 15 Sewer and Water Undercrossing

Project Description

Client: Centex Homes/Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District.
Location: Lake Elsinore, CA
Project: Interstate 15 Sewer and Water Undercrossing at Third St., Lake Elsinore

The I-15 undercrossing project involved 417 feet of sewer and water at the terminus of Third Street in the city of Lake Elsinore.  Installation of the lines was prompted by large residential developments by Centex Homes east of the freeway that required connection to existing infrastructure west of the freeway.  The crossing involved the installation of 44-inch steel casing for a 30-inch ductile-iron water line and 30-inch steel casing for a 15-inch PVC sewer line.  The casings were installed using a jack and bore method.  The jacking pit was located westerly of the Caltrans right-of-way at the terminus of Third street while the receiving pit was located easterly of the right-of-way.  The lines were installed nearly 40 feet below the travel lanes of I-15.

The Challenges

Albus & Associates, Inc., was retained to investigate the proposed jack and bore alignment in order to characterize the subsurface conditions and develop design recommendations.  Our investigation included exploratory borings and laboratory testing of representative soil samples.  Our analyses of data included estimation of potential ground displacement and distortion in the travel lanes overlying the proposed alignment, shoring parameters, temporary excavation stability, and corrosion. 

Albus & Associates, Inc., also provided services during the installation process.  During the boring, samples of drill cuttings were evaluated to verify soil conditions were as anticipated in our investigation.  Survey points were established on the travel lanes and monitored by a land surveyor.  The data was provided to our office for review to verify ground subsidence was within tolerable limits. Field representatives of Albus & Associates were present during grouting of the annular space outside the carrier pipes to verify compliance with project specifications.