Utility Installation Services
Water Lines and Fire Services
Domestic water services, fire lines, and on-site water distribution, including thrust restraint, valves, hydrant assemblies, and backflow device connections, coordinated with the local water agency’s standards and inspections.
Sanitary Sewer
Sewer laterals, mains, manholes, cleanouts, and connections to the public system, installed to grade and tested to the agency’s requirements.
Storm Drain and Stormwater
Storm drain pipe, catch basins, area drains, and connections to on-site stormwater management features such as detention, infiltration, and treatment systems required by local stormwater rules.
Dry Utilities and Joint Trench
Conduit and substructures for electrical, telecommunications, fiber, and other dry utilities, including duct banks, pull boxes, vaults, and joint trench work that puts multiple utilities in one trench with the required separations.
Utility Relocation and Replacement
Rerouting or replacing existing utilities that conflict with new foundations, excavations, or site improvements, often during demolition and early site work.
How We Install Underground Utilities
1. Locate Before We Dig
California law requires excavators to notify the regional one-call center (USA North 811 in Northern California) before digging. We submit 811 tickets, coordinate private utility locating on private property, and pothole critical crossings to confirm the depth and position of existing lines. In older San Francisco neighborhoods, undocumented and abandoned lines are common, so field verification protects both the schedule and the people.
2. Plan Traffic, Permits and Sequencing
Utility work in the street or sidewalk usually needs encroachment or street-opening permits, traffic control plans, and coordination with the utility owner. We plan sequencing with the site schedule so utility work doesn’t hold up foundations, paving, or vertical construction.
3. Excavate and Protect the Trench
We excavate to line and grade, managing spoils and groundwater as needed. Trenches 5 feet or deeper that workers enter need a protective system under Cal/OSHA. We use trench boxes, hydraulic shoring, slide-rail systems, or engineered shoring depending on depth, soils, and adjacent structures.
4. Install Pipe, Conduit and Structures
We place bedding, set pipe or conduit to grade, install fittings, valves, manholes, and vaults, and maintain required separations between water, sewer, and dry utilities.
5. Test, Backfill and Compact
Systems are pressure-tested, mandrel- or camera-inspected, or otherwise tested as the agency and specifications require. Backfill is placed and compacted in lifts to the specified density, with compaction testing coordinated with the project’s testing firm.
6. Restore the Surface
We restore paving, sidewalks, curbs, and landscaping to agency standards, either ourselves through our concrete and grading crews or in coordination with the paving contractor.
Bay Area Challenges We Plan For
- Shallow groundwater in bay-margin areas such as the Bayshore corridor, Mission Bay, and low-lying Marin and East Bay sites may require dewatering and careful trench stability measures.
- Soft soils and fill can affect pipe bedding, settlement, and trench support.
- Dense urban corridors mean working around existing utilities, transit, traffic, and neighbors in tight spaces with limited staging.
- Multiple agencies. Each city and utility district has its own standards, inspectors, and connection procedures.
Why Choose LVI Engineering for Site Utilities
Utility installation goes best when it’s coordinated with everything else in the ground. LVI Engineering is a general engineering contractor that also performs excavation, shoring, demolition, grading, helical piles, and concrete work. That means one team plans the trench, the shoring, the foundation conflicts, and the surface restoration together.
- Safety: zero-incident goal and an employee Safety Rewards Program.
- Delivery options: traditional bid, design-build, and design-build-assist.
Utility Installation FAQs
Do you install utilities in the public right-of-way?
Work in streets and sidewalks typically requires encroachment or street-opening permits, traffic control, and coordination with the utility owner. We plan for those requirements up front so they don’t hold up the schedule.
Who calls 811?
The excavating contractor submits the 811 ticket. When LVI performs the excavation, we handle it, along with private locating and potholing where needed.
Can you install utilities and the shoring for deep trenches?
Yes. Trench protection, from trench boxes to engineered shoring, is part of how we plan utility work. See Shoring.
What areas do you serve?
San Francisco, Marin County, the East Bay, Sonoma, Napa, Sacramento, Monterey, and across Northern California. See all of our service areas.
Talk to Us About Your Utility Scope
Send us your civil drawings, utility plans, and schedule, and we’ll put together a clear proposal for your site utility work.
Call the office at 415-599-9575, call Joe directly at 415-305-5034, or email joe@lviengineering.com.
LVI Engineering · 1485 Bayshore Blvd, Suite 320A, San Francisco, CA 94124
