Wednesday, Oct 24, 2012 – Today, Nakama Enterprises delivered the first set of aerial photos for the VTA/BART Silicon Valley Berryessa Extension project.  The images were presented to the project’s prime contractor Skanska-Shimmick-Herzog Joint Venture (SSHJV) at their project headquarters in Milpitas, CA.  Key members of the project team reviewed the images with a great deal of interest and enthusiasm and Nakama received very positive feedback.

There’s an interesting side story here that has to do with the Upper Penitencia Creek.  The first image below taken from Google Maps, shows the area before construction on the project began.  The creek bed corresponds to the line of trees that runs alongside Berryessa Rd.

Upper Penitencia Creek prior to construction

The second image, which is one of ours, shows how things look today.  Notice the creek stops short of the track alignment and picks up again towards the left of the frame.  The creek is actually dammed on both sides and the water is being pumped from one side, across the construction zone into the other creek channel.  This diversion will remain in place until later in the project when the dams will be removed and the creek will flow into the new artificial creek bed (within the dashed green lines) being constructed.

Upper Penitencia Creek – Oct 2012

This preservation effort sends a message that SSHJV is committed to minimizing impacts to the environment whenever possible during the project.  That’s very cool.