DCS Contracting dug through the past to create the future in their most recent Valley project.
The company was involved in making infrastructure improvements to the Novus Innovation Corridor, a multi-phase, 350-acre development near Tempe Town Lake on the ASU campus.
“The entire site sits on the old San Pablo neighborhood, which was demolished in the 1950s to expand the university,” David Kelly, DCS project manager, says. “During underground excavation, we located multiple trash and dumpsites containing bottles and old building debris.”
Kelly says that with each discovery, an ASU archaeologist arrived to document and photograph the artifacts. “We even located an old brick cistern a few feet under the existing Sixth Street asphalt that was nearly 30-feet deep.”
There were many challenges besides researching the historical legacy of the construction location. The site and existing roadways contained a vast amount of both known and unknown utilities.
“During underground excavation, unmarked utilities were located daily,” Ed Hyde, DCS superintendent, says. “This required extensive coordination with ASU, the city of Tempe, and all utility owners to try and figure out what the utility is, who owns it, and if it is active or abandoned.”
The $4 million construction project is anticipated to take 18 months. DCS is working on three main tasks:
Building Packard Drive from Sixth Street to Rural Road,
Building Novus Drive from Sixth Street to University Drive, and
Re-building Sixth Street from Packard Drive to Rural Road.
The latter task includes installing new infrastructure to supply multiple large building sites and the replacement of the Sixth Street water line from Veterans Parkway to Rural Road to increase capacity and update the water system with new services and fire hydrants. Turn lanes were also added along West Rural Road and North University Drive, which involved relocating two traffic signals and multiple utilities.
The construction involved the use of numerous types of equipment, including milling machines, excavators, loaders, blades, curb machines, and asphalt-laydown machines. Subcontractors on the project included Phoenix-based CS Construction Inc. and WSP Inc., located in Glendale.
The Novus Innovation Corridor will eventually integrate more than 10 million square feet of urban office, retail, and residential development with new and renovated collegiate athletic venues. Novus Innovation is a public/private partnership between ASU and master developer Catellus Development Corporation. The development is expected to bring approximately 20,000 new jobs and 5,000 new residents to the downtown Tempe area.