Llagas Creek groundbreaking kicks off Graniterock's largest ever construction project

MORGAN HILL – The southern portion of Santa Clara County will get the flood protection it’s sought for at least 70 years in what will be the largest construction project ever undertaken by Graniterock.

Santa Clara Valley Water’s $129 million Llagas Creek Flood Protection Project Phase 2B is considered one of the top three flood protection projects in the country and upon completion will protect an estimated 1,100 homes, 500 businesses and 1,300 acres of agricultural land.

For Graniterock senior estimator Randy Bonino, the Llagas Creek project hits home.

Not only was this the largest winning bid of his long career, but as a longtime San Martin resident, Randy understands the community’s urgency to prevent flooding during heavy winters.

He’s seen firsthand the damage caused when the creek overflows its banks.

“I’ve been going to public meetings about this for years,” Randy said. “I care about this project because it’s in my backyard and it’s only a matter of time before the creek floods again.”

Randy led the estimating effort to win the Llagas Creek project, putting in long hours to crunch the numbers on labor, equipment and materials to come up with the right price to land Graniterock in the lowest bidder spot while still making a profit.

He and other Construction Group team members, including Jim Mitchell and Erik Cushman, held several bid reviews to make sure the numbers made sense.

Helping to manage the estimating work and assemble the bid involved Sheree Schoenherr, Amy Furman, Ruby Le, Rene Ramirez, Melissa Ballew, Joseph Jaramillo and Juan Alvarado.

Adding this project to Graniterock’s backlog is important for the Company’s craft teams, Randy said.

“This is just a good one to have under our belt,” he said. “It’s a good one for the team to keep consistently working for a couple of years.”

The heart of the work will be to widen a 6.5-mile stretch of the creek by removing an estimated 720,000 yards of dirt, guaranteed to keep excavators, dozers and truck drivers very busy.

Project Engineers Josh Cutler and Gio Giannotta are excited to be part of the project management team alongside veteran Senior Project Manager Dave Olivas.

Josh and Gio pointed out a key component of the project is a $30 million twin box culvert intake structure that will improve drainage, direct stormwater flow and reduce flood hazards for the surrounding communities.

The twin box culvert is essentially two large, parallel concrete channels designed to handle significant water volumes during heavy storms.

“It’s pretty cool being part of history,” Gio said. “We’re going to be able to learn a lot from Dave and deliver a project this community has needed for a long time.”

At the project’s groundbreaking Sept. 13 in a Morgan Hill neighborhood next to the creek, Santa Clara Valley Water leaders along with Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) and other officials praised the years of persistence it took to secure the federal funding required to get a project this size off the ground.

“I became aware of the need for flood protection here in 1995,” Lofgren said. “I became determined to do something about it. In our quest we faced many obstacles, but we just never gave up. It just shows when you never give up, you can get the job done.”

The project includes channel modifications, riparian and stream restoration, strategic floodwater diversions along the waterways, improving migratory fish habitat and restoring water quality to impacted communities.

The work is similar to the previous largest contract the Construction Group built for Santa Clara Valley Water at Llagas Creek in 2020. This second phase is considered more complex due to its urban setting near downtown Morgan Hill.