Oakland Zoo Emergency Project

Unprecedented rainfall resulted in the collapse of a culvert under the vehicular entry road of the Oakland Zoo. This collapse caused a 40 ft sinkhole to open up and prevented anyone from coming in or out of the Zoo’s main entrance. The Zoo was forced to close until the culvert and road could be repaired. After “safeing” off the area and waiting for stormy weather conditions to subside, The City of Oakland, the geotechnical engineers – ENGEO, and McGuire and Hester held design meetings to create plans for the culvert replacement. After Underground Crews replaced the culvert with a new 72″ Duromax pipe, Grade and Pave Crews worked on the roadway to restore access to Zoo guests. Crews finished the project with a newly paved road just in time for the Oakland Zoo to hold their crowd-pleasing Zoofarri event at their re-opening.