A lot of progress has been made in the last couple of weeks at the two fire station construction sites. At Fire Station 54, Wickman Development and Construction, had been working on footing rebar installation for a few weeks leading up to a large concrete pour last week. The concrete pour included the new building pad and the elevator pit. Subsequently, the contractor mobilized a scaffolding system to work on forming the elevator shaft. Wood framing has also begun. Wickman is eager to finalize the second concrete pour that will include the entire apparatus bay. This pour is on track to take place at the end of this week. It will take an entire day and fourteen concrete trucks to complete.
Fire Station 55 is running on a parallel path to 54. The concrete foundation was also poured on the living quarters portion of the building allowing for wood wall framing to start. Wood trusses and other structural supports are being installed in the apparatus bay.
Additionally, Wickman discovered an abandoned underground storage tank (UST) several weeks ago. The UST was found on the north side of the lot between the apparatus bay and the hill. The metal UST is forty-two inches in diameter and approximately six feet long. Upon notification of the discovery, the City promptly notified the County of Marin Certified Unified Program Agencies (CUPA), and the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, in compliance with Environmental Protection Agency protocols. The construction team created a plan to safely extract the tank. The plan was reviewed and approved by CUPA. Currently, City staff is working with CUPA supervising hazardous materials specialist, Julia Barnes, to remove the tank this week. Once the tank is removed, trench excavation work will resume in the area.
