A Digital Journal - San Francisco Public Works
In the Works
November 2024
In the heart of Japantown, the venerable Peace Plaza pagoda stands shrouded in temporary scaffolding with work underway to structurally strengthen it to withstand the ravages of a strong earthquake.
FEATURE STORIES
A Lasting Peace
An ambitious overhaul of Japantown’s venerable, five-tier pagoda and the surrounding Peace Plaza has been underway since the spring.
Storm Response
The first winter storms barreled into San Francisco late this month – and our crews kicked into high gear to prepare for and respond to the heavy rains.
Flush with Success
San Francisco’s innovative Pit Stop public toilet program, which started with three locations in the Tenderloin, now has expanded to 30 locations in 13 neighborhoods.
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It’s About Time!
This month, Public Works’ stationary engineers took care of their twice-yearly task of adjusting the Market Street clocks for daylight saving time.
#LoveOurCity
The Love Our City: Neighborhood Beautification Day volunteer workday wrapped up the 2024 season with a high-spirit workday in the Portola, Bernal Heights and Mission neighborhoods.
Public Works engineer Soe Thu, the resident engineer on the Peace Plaza and pagoda renovation project, talks with a worker (left).
A
Lasting
Peace
Revered Japantown Pagoda
Undergoing Seismic Upgrades
Usually, Japantown’s venerable, five-tier pagoda looks out over the neighborhood unencumbered. But lately, the towering structure has been encased by an impressive tangle of scaffolding and netting.
A few levels up, on a recent November morning, a construction worker was busy drawing lines along the structure’s reinforced concrete with a thick marker.
Much like a doctor shines a light on a patient’s bones and joints using an X-ray, the worker pressed a handheld gadget against the concrete, allowing him to spot the rebar hidden beneath the surface. His markings will help guide work during a Public Works-led seismic retrofitting of the pagoda so no rebar is accidentally damaged as crews work to shore up the structure to better withstand the perils of major earthquakes.
A construction worker looks for rebar hidden beneath the pagoda's concrete surface.
The work is part of an ambitious overhaul of the pagoda and the surrounding Peace Plaza that has been underway since the spring – though years of planning and community outreach led by the City’s Recreation and Park Department preceded it.
Public Works is providing landscape architecture, architecture and engineering services and managing construction on behalf of Rec and Park for the Peace Plaza renovation project, situated in the heart of the neighborhood, between Post Street and Geary Boulevard, just east of Webster Street.
A rendering shows the new and improved Peace Plaza, including landscaped nooks and cherry trees.
The goal is to make the 30,000-square-foot open space more inviting – with fresh landscaping, serene light features and new porcelain tiles, among other things – and provide seismic improvements to the plaza and pagoda to keep people safe.
The Peace Plaza was created and donated in the mid-1960s as a gift from Osaka, San Francisco's sister city in Japan. A seismic evaluation of the decades-old pagoda revealed that the structure did not have adequate capacity to resist a “really, really big earthquake,” said Ray Lui, Public Works’ structural engineering section manager.
Rebar sticks up in the air as a worker handles equipment at the Peace Plaza construction site.
“What we’re doing is essentially making it stronger...to basically ride out most earthquakes,” said Lui who helps oversee an as-needed consultant – Biggs Cardosa and Associates, a California-based structural engineering firm – tasked with the seismic retrofit.
To fortify the pagoda, crews are strengthening its ring beams with additional concrete in minimally visible areas. They will also reinforce the columns with carbon fiber wrap and steel tendons – called post-tension tendons.
Public Works engineer Soe Thu, who manages construction on the renovation project, points at the pagoda's concrete columns.
The fiber wrap provides “added shear capacity and ductility to each individual column” and the post-tension tendons, anchored into the podium slab and running along the columns, help prevent the pagoda from overturning during an earthquake, Lui noted.
The challenge – as is often the case with historic structures – is improving the pagoda’s resilience in the face of earthquakes while at the same time keeping it as close to the original as possible.
“I think this is a one-of-a-kind project, certainly in San Francisco,” Lui said. “Trying to preserve the historic nature of the structure was probably the hardest part.”
Another critically important aspect of the plaza overhaul: waterproofing it to help keep a subterranean, two-story parking garage underneath the Peace Plaza dry.
A worker handles equipment at the Peace Plaza construction site where crews will waterproof the surface.
The waterproofing involves multiple steps, said Public Works engineer Soe Thu, the resident engineer on the project who also helps manage construction on it.
First, crews demolish the existing layers up to the structural slab. Then, after making sure the surface is free of debris, they apply a primer. Following a pull test to make sure the primer properly adheres to the surface, crews apply two coats of hot rubber asphalt with a layer of fabric in-between. To round things out, a protective layer is added. Drains will collect stormwater and funnel it into the plumbing system below.
Water collects near a drain at the Peace Plaza.
The topmost layer of the new and improved plaza will consist of porcelain tiles, which are light but sturdy – ideal for accommodating the weight constraints of building atop a garage. They will be arranged in a two-toned design meant to emulate drifting fog and will replace the old, thin slate tiles, many of which had cracked.
A rendering shows seating structures and fresh landscaping at the improved Peace Plaza.
In order to make sure patrons can still easily access the two adjacent malls, work on the plaza is happening in phases, keeping a fenced-in walkway open to shoppers who frequent the businesses. For the work that needs to happen right in front of the mall entrances, crews will switch to early-morning shifts to make sure the malls aren’t impacted.
“Every time there is a challenging issue, the project team comes out with the best idea, and (makes sure) it was executed collaboratively,” said Thu, adding that he is proud to work on such a high-profile public project.
Rec and Park led an extensive community engagement effort, which started in 2018, to set the framework for the design and construction of the renovation.
From a design and landscape architecture perspective, reimagining the beloved communal gathering place meant leaving enough room for the many festivals that draw large crowds to the neighborhood every year while also providing some intimacy during regular day-to-day use of the space, said Public Works Landscape Architecture Bureau Manager Jennifer Cooper.
A rendering illustrates how blue lighting projected onto the plaza ground will create a visual water feature.
“Because outside of the festivals the large open plaza space would be underutilized,” said Cooper, whose bureau is the design lead for the undertaking. “So, we created more intimate places for people to just grab some food at the mall and come out and have lunch or play with their kids.”
The revamped plaza will feature new benches nestled amid landscaped nooks, a larger permanent stage surrounding the pagoda and terraced seating. Cherry trees – which hold a special place in Japanese culture – will be planted again. Blue lighting projected onto the plaza ground aims to create a visual water feature referencing the original design.
The project is slated to wrap up in late 2025.
PUBLIC WORKS
BY THE NUM83R5
2024 -YEAR TO DATE
10,777
POTHOLES
FILLED
5,773
TREES
PRUNED
519
CURB RAMPS
CONSTRUCTED
571
NUMBER OF BLOCKS RESURFACED
23,550
TONS OF DEBRIS COLLECTED
Stormy Weather
The first winter storms barreled into San Francisco late this month – and our crews kicked into high gear to prepare for and respond to the heavy rains.
The most significant downpour occurred on Nov. 22 when almost 3 inches of rain fell. Just in time for the onslaught of inclement weather, our sandbag operation distributed about 1,000 sandbags that day. All told, we gave out nearly 2,500 sandbags in the span of a week.
Public Works provides up to 10 free sandbags to any San Francisco resident or business that needs them to protect a flood-prone property. The giveaway takes place at our Operations Yard, Monday through Saturday, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., year-round. Hours may be extended amid major drenches. More information can be found on our website at sfpublicworks.org/sandbags.
Public Works crews load free sandbags into a San Francisco resident’s car during a recent storm.
Before and after the downpours, our manual street sweepers were on the ground, hustling to keep leaves and litter away from the catch basin to help water flow into the storm system so it doesn't pool on the roads. Still, there were pockets of localized flooding throughout the City during the torrential rains.
The wet weather also caused a small mudslide near Lyell and Still streets in Glen Park when excessive amounts of water spilled onto an undeveloped, landscaped parcel from the Interstate 280 freeway above. The mud knocked down a section of metal fencing and spilled onto the sidewalk and street. We quickly sent a team to clear the mud from the street with a frontend loader and placed sandbags at key locations to hold back additional muck.
Heavy rains caused a mudslide near Lyell and Still streets in Glen Park, wiping out part of a fence and causing a mucky mess that our crews later cleaned up.
We dispatched a geotechnical engineer who determined there was no immediate health and safety issue but recommended further consultation with Caltrans, which owns the open space, once the area dries out.
While we had tree crews on hand to respond to downed street trees during the storm, our urban forest, thankfully, suffered very little damage.
As we move into winter, with more rains expected, Public Works and the full force of City departments working on storm preparations and response will be on the job to help San Francisco weather the storm.
Find out more about available resources to get you rain ready here.
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This Pit Stop public toilet in the South of Market is one of 30 in operation across the City.
Flush with Success
San Francisco’s innovative Pit Stop public toilet program, launched by Public Works 10 years ago, has averaged one flush a minute.
What began with three locations in the Tenderloin, the Pit Stops now have expanded to 30 locations in 13 neighborhoods – from the Mission to the Outer Richmond. Since 2014, there have been more than 5 million uses.
What makes a Pit Stop a Pit Stop is that it is staffed. The paid attendants are on site to ensure that the toilets are kept clean and in good working order and used for their intended purpose.
The goal is simple: Offer facilities where people can take care of their bathroom needs in a safe, private space, providing them with an alternative to using our streets and sidewalks as a toilet.
The staffed Pit Stop program utilizes different types of public toilets, including the new one on The Embarcadero installed by JCDecaux and designed by SmithGroup JPR.
“It’s always been more than just toilet access. It’s about giving people respect and dignity and showing people what we can do for each other and the City,” said Sam Dodge, who helped develop the Pit Stop initiative when he served as Public Works’ homelessness coordinator and who now leads San Francisco’s citywide street response coordination.
He noted that Public Works experimented with different models over the years but landed on the right one with the staffing component.
In addition to making sure the facilities are stocked with toilet paper and kept in good condition, the attendants serve as de facto neighborhood guardians – helping tourists with directions, calling 911 when they spot a medical emergency and sweeping the nearby sidewalk.
Each Pit Stop is staffed by an attendant to ensure the facility is kept clean, safe and well maintained.
We use different types of toilets in the Pit Stop program – from portable units to fixed-location bathrooms. The hours and days of operation vary by location, based largely on usage data. Today four of the locations are open around the clock: one in the Mid-Market, one in the Mission and two in the Tenderloin.
Each Pit Stop also is equipped with sharps receptacles and free dog waste bags. On average, we collect 1,323 used needles and hand out 458 dog waste bags a month – both services that help keep our streets cleaner and safer.
Over the years, the program has drawn the interest of government and nonprofit organization representatives from Europe, Asia and across the United States who have wanted to see how the Pit Stops operate. Miami was the first to follow in our footsteps. Then came Sacramento, Denver, Los Angeles and others.
Public Works manages the Pit Stops. Nonprofit grantees – currently Mission Hiring Hall and Hunters Point Family – staff them with participants in their workforce development programs.
Public Works Stationary Engineer John La Monte adjusts the time on each clock by hand.
It’s About Time!
This month, Public Works’ stationary engineers took care of their twice-yearly task of adjusting the Market Street clocks for daylight saving time.
In the spring, we set the public clocks ahead one hour; in the fall they get set back one hour. This year, the end of daylight saving time fell on Nov. 3.
Public Works takes care of three towering 1970s-era clocks on Market Street – located at Drumm Street, O’Farrell Street and Sutter Street.
The time on the bronze street clocks, each with four faces, is adjusted by hand by Stationary Engineer John La Monte. While he was at it, perched atop a ladder 15 feet above the Market Street sidewalk, La Monte made some needed minor repairs to the clocks.
Just like clockwork, our crews can be counted on.
Maggie Weis (foreground), chair of the Portola Neighborhood Association board, works on the Neighborhood Beautification Day landscaping project at the SFMTA parking lot on Felton Street in the Portola.
#LoveOurCity
The Love Our City: Neighborhood Beautification Day volunteer event wrapped up the 2024 season with a high-spirit workday in the Portola, Bernal Heights and Mission neighborhoods.
The Nov. 9 event drew more than four dozen volunteers who worked alongside our Urban Forestry, graffiti and community programs teams to tame invasive ivy, plant trees and paint out graffiti tags to beautify, green and clean our shared public spaces.
Public Works hosts 11 Neighborhood Beautification Day events a year, January through November, which this year drew a total of 925 volunteers.
Volunteers tackle overgrown weeds in Bernal Heights.
Our biggest event was in March when 200 volunteers came out to plant 60 street trees for Arbor Day. In all, Neighborhood Beautification Day volunteers planted 158 trees during this year’s workdays.
We’ll be back in January to kick off a new season of Neighborhood Beautification Day with plenty more opportunities year-round for community members to help us keep the City looking good, get some exercise and flex civic pride.
To learn more about our volunteer programs and events, please visit sfpublicworks.org/volunteer.