East Bay MUD project will make Alameda’s water supply earthquake safe
ALAMEDA, Calif. – The East Bay Municipal Utilities District is performing an engineering wonder to make sure that an earthquake doesn’t leave Alameda Island without water since it has no reservoirs of its own. Alameda completely relies on water piped in from East Bay MUD through four old and vulnerable pipelines.
One being replaced right now is 80-years old; a rigid, brittle, cast-iron pipe, highly susceptible to major quakes. “It is flexible. It is durable. It is very strong, and it is very resilient,” said EBMUD Engineering & Construction Chief Jimi Yoloye.
This pipe will run 150 feet below the estuary where the ground is much more firm and more resistant to earthquakes, as opposed to the current pipe, which is much higher up and far more susceptible to being destroyed. “We’re actually replacing the four existing pipelines with three new pipelines and this is the first of those,” said Yoloye.