A Digital Journal - San Francisco Public Works
In the Works
May 2024
No pane, no gain: Public Works glaziers work on projects across the City, from replacing shattered glass doors to installing new mirrors at the airport. Check out our story for a window into their world.
FEATURE STORIES
Raising a Glass to Our Glaziers
The department’s Glass Shop – a small but mighty operation – handles a variety of repair and installation jobs for a broad swath of City departments, from replacing mirrors at the San Francisco International Airport to adding anti-graffiti film to Rec and Park facilities.
Folsom Street Makeover
Breaks Ground
Construction got underway this month on the Folsom Street Improvements Project, focused on making the busy South of Market corridor safer and more inviting for residents and visitors, with a reimagined roadway design, fresh landscaping and new street furniture.
Spring Spruce Up for Bayview Gateway
The beloved Bayview Gateway at Third Street and Meade Avenue received a much-needed landscape refresh thanks to the diligent efforts of Public Works crews.
Making Connections
For the first time since the start of the COVID pandemic, Public Works joined with other City agencies this month to reboot the “Contractor Connections” event in person, aiming to strengthen ties with local construction companies eager to work on public projects.
Public Works Crews Hit Their Stride in B2B Cleanup
As racers labored through the Bay to Breakers race this month, a contingent of Public Works street cleaners – clad in neon vests and armed with push brooms, shovels and rakes – stood at the ready.
#LoveOurCity
A squad of determined volunteers took to a Russian Hill slope to successfully tame a batch of invasive ivy – the most ambitious of this month's Neighborhood Beautification Day projects.
Public Works glazier Jose Rodriguez holds up a broken glass pane in the Glass Shop at the Public Works Operations Yard.
Raising a Glass to Our Glaziers
The fire-resilient glass plate, standing 9 feet tall and weighing in at more than 700 pounds, looked like a splintered sheet of ice.
Public Works glazier Jose Rodriguez works on a broken glass pane at the City’s Public Safety Building in the Mission Bay neighborhood.
Countless little fractures radiated toward the rectangular pane’s edges from the top corner where an impact of unknown origin seemingly had started a chain reaction of cracks and splits. They sparkled in the warm glow of the fifth-floor lighting at the City’s Public Safety Building, which houses the San Francisco Police Department headquarters, in the Mission Bay neighborhood.
But like a car windshield that stays whole instead of bursting into a million pieces, the laminated safety glass – designed to withstand heat from a fire for up to 120 minutes before it gives way – remained tenuously intact, a see-through puzzle of tiny fissures.
The laminated safety glass is designed to stay intact instead of bursting into pieces upon impact.
Called in for its careful extraction and exacting replacement: Public Works’ expert glaziers.
Public Works glaziers Joseph Luaulu, left, and Jose Rodriguez, right, start unpacking the replacement pane outside the Public Safety Building.
The department’s Glass Shop – a small but mighty operation – handles a variety of repair and installation jobs for a broad swath of City departments, from replacing mirrors at the San Francisco International Airport to adding anti-graffiti film to Rec and Park facilities.
“I just like working with my hands. I like being outside,” said Acting Glazier Supervisor Joseph Luaulu. “We’re not stuck in the shop. So every day we’re in a different part of the city. That’s what’s nice.”
And so, on a chilly May morning, a quartet of Public Works glaziers methodically prepared the broken safety glass pane – part of a glass divider with door, separating a stairway from the rest of the floor – for removal. They measured the glass and pulled out the rubber lining along the pane’s edges. Amid the whir of an electric screwdriver, they took out the glass stops, silver-gray metal bars that help hold the glass in place.
Then, Public Works glazier Mike Bollier – at the controls of an indoor glazing machine with six large suction cups at the end of an electric-powered robotic arm – began his careful approach. Glaziers Jose Rodriguez and Thomas Patch, alongside Luaulu, kept close watch on the glass, guiding Bollier toward it.
Public Works glazier Thomas Patch works on a broken glass pane at the City’s Public Safety Building in the Mission Bay neighborhood.
With each push of a button, Bollier made subtle adjustments to the machine. Once the suction cups were in just the right position, pressed up against the broken glass pane, he engaged them. Then the moment of truth: lifting the glass sheet out of the frame.
With the help of an indoor glazing machine, Public Works glaziers lift the 722-pound glass pane out of its frame.
A slight crunch. A collective sigh of relief. The glass pane weighing 722 pounds – the approximate weight of a hefty adult male Grizzly bear – suddenly floated above ground.
The glaziers then rotated the pane on its side and slowly lowered it onto a padded cart before wheeling it down to their truck.
Step 1 was complete.
Public Works glaziers Mike Bollier, left, and Jose Rodriguez, right, prepare the broken glass pane for being heaved onto their truck with the help of a machine.
'I don't fear Mondays anymore'
A few days earlier, Rodriguez and Patch worked in tandem on a much different project: placing privacy film on glass-encased San Francisco Planning Department offices on the 15th floor of the City’s office tower at 49 South Van Ness Ave.
Precision was still key, but heavy machinery was not required. Just a steady hand and clean surfaces.
Public Works glazier Jose Rodriguez, right, measures a glass-encased office at 49 South Van Ness Ave., while fellow glazier Thomas Patch, left, looks on.
First, Rodriguez and Patch measured the office’s glass walls, marked where the film should go and cleaned the area. The smallest dust particles can ruin all the work, Rodriguez explained.
Public Works glazier Jose Rodriguez cleans a glass-encased office ahead of a privacy film installation.
The next step was to spray the surface with soapy water. That helps the film stick to the glass but remain movable in case they need to adjust it. Then they pulled the protective layer off the film, revealing its sticky side. To make sure they didn’t accidentally leave fingerprints, Rodriguez sprayed Patch’s fingers with the suds.
Public Works glazier Jose Rodriguez, left, sprays the privacy film with soapy water as fellow glazier Thomas Patch, right, holds the film.
Like the glass surface, the privacy film was sprayed with the soap and water mixture so the glaziers were able to move it into the right position. Once they placed it at the appropriate height, the men sprayed the film again so it doesn’t rip when they take a squeegee to it. Using the squeegee, they pushed the suds and air out from underneath the film, ultimately allowing it to stick to the glass.
Using a squeegee, the glaziers push the suds and air out from underneath the film, allowing it to stick to the glass.
“This film is one of the best I’ve worked with,” Rodriguez said, as the duo worked on wrapping the first of two offices with the milky privacy covering. “It’s really easy to do.”
Finally, to make sure the liquid applied earlier doesn’t creep underneath the film, the glaziers carefully wiped down the surface. Rodriguez admired the finished product from the hallway.
“It looks great coming down this corner,” he said.
Public Works glazier Thomas Patch works on a privacy film installation on the 15th floor at 49 South Van Ness Ave.
Their job requires teamwork and coordination but for Rodriguez and Patch a good rapport is almost second nature.
Before they came to the Public Works Glass Shop, the two started together at the same private glazier company 20 years ago. Their professional paths diverged for a while until they were reunited at Public Works.
"It’s really cool to work with somebody that you know,” said Rodriguez, who has been with Public Works for about two and a half years.
Both Rodriguez and Patch – who has been with the Glass Shop for about a year and a half – appreciate the camaraderie of the tight-knit workplace.
“I don’t fear Mondays anymore,” Rodriguez said. “It’s great coming to work, because I know the guys I work with are freaking awesome.”
The different job sites, from the historic City Hall dome to the bustling airport concourse, keep workdays interesting, too.
“Like the first time I drove on the tarmac at the airport? It was cool, man,”
Rodriguez said. “You’re driving right next to these huge planes; you know what I mean? Getting access to things that the regular person doesn’t have access to. That’s what’s kind of cool, too.”
From the glass shop, a window to the world
When the glaziers aren’t out in the field, they can be found at the Glass Shop at the Public Works Operations Yard in the Bayview, often preparing for the next job.
On a May morning, Rodriguez and Luaulu were cutting a piece of laminated safety glass to size for work at the airport. A glass panel for a door at a TSA checkpoint was needed.
Public Works glaziers Joseph Luaulu, left, and Jose Rodriguez, right, prepare to cut a glass pane to size at the Glass Shop.
In this case, the glaziers had gone out to the airport to measure what size glass was required and supplied airport officials with an estimate. For some of the more common requests, the glaziers can reference a cheat sheet of sorts with dimensions scribbled onto a column in the shop: “27 ½ x 56 CABLE CAR TINT,” one marking in black lettering read; “Harvey Milk Elevator 25 ½ x 68 1/8,” another.
Sunlight pouring in through the Glass Shop windows and bouncing off the different shades and sizes of glass stored there, Rodriguez spun a big piece of the safety glass over the carpet-covered table at the center of the room. With the flip of a switch, air streamed through 12 small openings in the table, causing white ping-pong-like balls housed in the holes to dance and spin.
Public Works glazier Jose Rodriguez spins a piece of safety glass over the carpet-covered table at the Glass Shop.
Much like an air hockey table in an arcade, the setup allows the glass to glide more easily across the table and into position.
After measuring the glass according to spec, Rodriguez used a handheld cutting tool the size of a pen to cut – or, in glazier parlance, score – the glass. Then, careful to align it with the initial cut, he repeated the incision on the flipside.
“The important thing about cutting the laminated glass: I want to make sure my second score is directly on top of that first one,” Rodriguez said.
Using a handheld cutting tool, glazier Jose Rodriguez scores a piece of glass.
To soften up the laminated glass’ plastic layer at the cut, Luaulu doused it in isopropyl alcohol. On colder days, the glaziers would additionally light the alcohol-soaked marking on fire, but on that May morning, the piece of glass, straining under its own weight and helped by gravity, began to fold toward the floor.
Lighting the alcohol-soaked cut on fire helps soften up the laminated glass’ plastic layer.
In order to sever it completely, Luaulu took a piece of a tape measure and ran it along the cut.
“We use just a broken tape measure, because it’s really thin and sharp, that it cuts that plastic,” Rodriguez explained, referring to the safety glass’ plastic interlayer that prevents it from breaking into big, sharp pieces.
With Phantom Planet’s song “California” serenading them over the radio, the glaziers repeated their previous steps – this time lighting the cut ablaze before Rodriguez gently pulled the glass apart.
After sanding down the edges, Rodriguez labeled the cut-to-order glass plate with a small piece of blue tape and a black Sharpie, marking its destination at SFO.
It was now ready to be a window to the world at one of the busiest airports in the country.
Public Works glazier Jose Rodriguez carries a glass pane through the Glass Shop.
‘Greatest Glass Shop
in the world’
Outside the Public Safety Building, the glaziers once again used the MAVLift 1320 – the red and blue glazier machine with its robotic arm and half-dozen suction cups – to heave the broken glass plate onto their truck.
Public Works glaziers Thomas Patch, Mike Bollier and Jose Rodriguez, left to right, work with a lifting machine to heave the broken glass plate onto their truck.
Small pieces of glass trickled onto the truck as they gently placed it onto the vehicle’s rubber-padded rack. Stakes that hook in at the top of the rack push the glass against the side of the truck, keeping it securely in place during transit.
After taking off the wood braces protecting the replacement glass panel, the glaziers lifted it from another truck’s flatbed onto the padded cart with the help of the MAVLift 1320 and its robotic tentacle.
Back upstairs, the group again began the delicate dance of maneuvering the unwieldy glass plate into the frame.
With the help of a machine and its suction cups, the Public Works glaziers move the glass plate into position.
First, Bollier, at the controls of the lifting machine, received directions to bring the suction cups into the correct position and scoop up the plate from the cart:
“Down – come in – lean the top towards me – keep going – now go up – go up a little more – suction.”
Then, the flawless glass plate floated into the air again as Bollier began his approach, guided by the other glaziers.
“You’re not squared with the hole. Tom’s side has to come in.”
“I think we’re in."
“Alright, bring it in.”
Inch by inch, the glass plate moved closer and closer into the opening. Then, after some last-minute adjustments, plenty of elbow grease and close coordination, it finally slipped securely into place. Working on the frame, Patch and Luaulu put together the finishing touches.
“You guys are amazing,” Rodriguez said. “Greatest Glass Shop in the world.”
The Public Works Glass Shop is located at the Operations Yard in the Bayview neighborhood.
PUBLIC WORKS
BY THE NUM83R5
2024 -YEAR TO DATE
6,104
POTHOLES
FILLED
3,634
TREES
PRUNED
98
CURB RAMPS
CONSTRUCTED
160
NUMBER OF BLOCKS TREATED
9,494
TONS OF DEBRIS COLLECTED
The Public Works Folsom project team joins City, community and contractor partners at a ceremonial groundbreaking to mark the start of construction.
Folsom Street Makeover Breaks Ground
Construction got underway this month on the Folsom Street Improvements Project, focused on making the busy South of Market corridor safer and more inviting for residents and visitors, with a reimagined roadway design, fresh landscaping and new street furniture.
The infrastructure project – managed by Public Works – runs along Folsom Street from Second to 11th streets.
Among the upgrades are a two-way protected bikeway, raised crosswalks, decorative crosswalks, bulb-outs to shorten the crossing distance for pedestrians, a transit-only lane and boarding islands for the buses, more efficient streetlights and better-timed traffic signals, custom-designed sidewalk benches and bike racks, rain gardens to capture stormwater, additional street trees and 18 commemorative plaques highlighting the LGBTQ+ community.
The Folsom Street roadway will be reduced from four lanes to two general-purpose vehicle travel lanes and one transit-only lane. This reconfiguration is known as a “road diet” and is anticipated to change Folsom Street from a fast-moving throughway to a more neighborhood-friendly and safer corridor for people who walk and bike.
The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency placed South of Market’s Folsom Street on the City’s High Injury Network list – the 12% of San Francisco streets where 68% of severe and fatal traffic collisions occur. The designation prioritizes those streets for traffic-safety improvements.
In addition to the streetscape changes, the Folsom project includes improvements to the underground water and sewer systems and emergency firefighting water system. The entire stretch will be repaved.
A combination of state, regional and local funding is paying for the $45 million project.
Construction will be done in three phases, starting with the 11th Street to Eighth Street segment, then moving to the Eighth Street to Fifth Street segment and ending with the stretch from Fifth Street to Second Street. Phased construction aims to minimize disruptions to residents and businesses. Crews started work this month and construction is scheduled to wrap up in late 2026.
A major component of the 2018 Central SoMa Plan, planning for the Folsom streetscape began a year later and included extensive outreach with open houses, a survey and more than 100 meetings with businesses and community groups.
The Public Works team is providing project management, construction management and construction outreach through project delivery. The SFMTA led the design and initial community outreach phase of the project. The contractor is Mitchell Engineering.
“The project, a collaboration among City departments, contractor crews and the community, springs from thoughtful planning and design. Our job now at San Francisco Public Works is to manage the construction and to keep the project on track,” Public Works Director Carla Short said at the May 13 ceremonial groundbreaking.
Supervisor Matt Dorsey led the countdown for the groundbreaking ritual.
“This South of Market neighborhood,” she added, “is rooted in San Francisco history. And it also is a neighborhood that is evolving. This streetscape makeover will align with today’s San Francisco – a city that prioritizes traffic safety, resiliency, greening and neighborhood identity.”
District 6 Supervisor Matt Dorsey, SFMTA Director Jeff Tumlin and San Francisco County Transportation Authority Executive Director Tilly Chang joined in the groundbreaking event, which also included representatives from the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, South of Market Community Action Network and Mitchell Engineering.
Public Works landscape crews lay down a new layer of mulch to deter weeds.
Spring Spruce
Up for
Bayview Gateway
The beloved Bayview Gateway at Third Street and Meade Avenue received a much-needed landscape refresh thanks to the diligent efforts of Public Works crews.
Our Bureau of Urban Forestry gardeners were out in force in April and May clearing out overgrown vegetation, removing litter, putting down compost to nourish the soil, adding a layer of mulch to deter weeds and planting wildflower seeds to bring a new burst of color to the site. The team also mapped out needed repairs to the irrigation system.
It's been three years since we held a ceremonial ribbon-cutting celebration for the Bayview Gateway, a community-driven project championed by the Bayview Hill Neighborhood Association.
In addition to adding mulch, crews plant wildflower seeds that will grow into colorful blooms.
The undertaking turned a forsaken parcel of land, marred by illegal dumping, into a welcoming neighborhood showcase, anchored by mosaic-tiled letters – each 8 feet tall – that spell out “BAYVIEW.”
Public Works collaborated with the San Francisco Planning Department, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission and Caltrans to complete the latest landscape maintenance project.
Landscape supervisor Robert McKinney said he is proud of the Public Works gardeners and public service aides who worked on the project. The team included Bruce Pennington, Sean Scott, Rashida Saucier, Yusef Taylor, William Johnson, Damon Cooper, Jose Perez, Domique Foster, Omar Gutter, Johnathan Gurdal, Desseray Knox, Chris Tavelli, John Sadler, Ronnie Whittenvurg and Randell Turner.
More on the Gateway Project history can be found here.
Lots of physical labor goes into maintaining the Bayview Gateway to keep it looking good.
Public Works Director Carla Short welcomes the crowd at the Contractor Connections event.
Making Connections
For the first time since the start of the COVID pandemic, Public Works joined with other City agencies this month to reboot the “Contractor Connections” event in person, aiming to strengthen ties with local construction companies eager to work on public projects.
The get-together, hosted by Public Works and held at the Southeast Community Center in the Bayview on May 8, gave contractors an opportunity to learn more about upcoming contract opportunities and how to navigate the City’s contracting process. The event drew some 100 people – a mix of representatives from large and small construction contractors, as well as department heads and other City staff from more than 10 departments.
The event was geared in large part to draw Local Business Enterprises, also known as LBEs, which are local businesses that we want to lift up and support. They’re key to our economy and our investment in the community.
City staffers meet with contractors interested in learning more about upcoming opportunities.
San Francisco’s public infrastructure – whether buildings, such as fire stations and health centers, or newly designed streetscapes – relies on a complex collaboration among City departments and the private construction sector. It’s through our partnerships that we design, manage and build the public realm and get meaningful and impactful work done in the City. And the Contractor Connections meetings are an important way to exchange information and meet each other.
The in-person confab gives participants a chance to build deeper connections.
Among the departments on hand were Public Works, Recreation and Park, the Port, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, San Francisco International Airport, the Office of Small Business and the City Administrator. In addition, the City’s chief economist and chief resilience officer spoke to the attendees about the state of the San Francisco economy and upcoming bonds and capital projects.
As participants headed out, there was already lots of buzz about the desire to convene more Contractor Connections gatherings to deepen these important relationships.
As the colorful Barbies and Kens, the runners in capes and masks, the leisurely participants in cow costumes and the serious racers sporting athleisure labored up the incline at Hayes Street near Alamo Square Park for Bay to Breakers this month, a contingent of Public Works street cleaners – clad in neon vests and armed with push brooms, shovels and rakes – stood at the ready.
They waited patiently for the popular annual spectacle – a 12-kilometer-long costume party that doubles as a footrace across San Francisco – to unfold. And as soon as the last of the thousands of Bay to Breakers participants disappeared in the distance, they got to work.
Clad in orange vests, this team of block sweepers stands ready to clean Hayes Street.
Cleaning tools in tow, crews spread out to remove debris left behind by runners and spectators – from plastic cups and sweat-soaked t-shirts to confetti and hand-drawn signs. Recology garbage trucks and Public Works mechanical sweepers, flusher trucks and crews with power-washing equipment followed to make the streets and sidewalks sparkle again.
All told, our crews collected nearly 11,600 pounds of trash from the race route, which stretches from The Embarcadero to Ocean Beach. Though an impressive haul, the total pales in comparison to last year’s 25,000 pounds of trash – making this year’s race, held on May 19, one of the cleanest in recent memory.
It takes a team to get the streets back in shape after the footrace – manual sweepers, specialized broom and flusher trucks and power washers.
It was well organized, too, with Public Works' partners from the San Francisco Police Department and Rec and Park out in full force, helping make sure the event went off without a hitch.
By 2 p.m. – a mere six hours after the race had started at Main and Howard streets – most of the cleanup was done. And an hour later, Public Works motorized brooms and flushers put the finishing touches on the cleanup effort near the finish line by the Great Highway.
Ready to do it all over again next year.
Public Works street cleaning crews watch as racers – human and canine – pass by Alamo Square Park.
Public Works Crews
Hit Their Stride
in B2B Cleanup
Volunteers remove a copious amount of invasive ivy from the Chestnut Street steps.
#LoveOurCity
A squad of determined volunteers took to a Russian Hill slope this month to successfully tame a batch of invasive ivy.
Theirs was just one of several projects during the May 11 Love Our City: Neighborhood Beautification Day – a monthly event hosted by Public Works that brings together community volunteers and our in-house landscape, arborist, street cleaning, graffiti abatement and community engagement teams to green and clean. This month’s focus was on Russian Hill, Nob Hill, North Beach and other District 3 neighborhoods.
In addition to removing ivy from the Chestnut Street steps on Russian Hill, volunteers and Public Works crews planted trees along the 1300 block of Clay Street and the 1700 block of Hyde Street; pruned and mulched public space at Broadway and Himmelmann Place; and wiped out graffiti along Chestnut, Filbert, Mason and Stockton streets.
Next month, on Saturday, June 22, we’ll be in the Excelsior, Outer Mission, Crocker-Amazon and other District 11 neighborhoods. Kickoff is at 9 a.m. at James Denman Middle School, 238 Seneca Ave. These are fun and inspiring events. Bring your friends, your family or join us solo. All are welcome!
Learn more about the Neighborhood Beautification Days by visiting sfpublicworks.org/LoveOurCity
Once the ivy is cut back or pulled out, the green waste is hauled away by hand.
