Matadero Creek Flood Control Project, Palo Alto

The Project

The project consisted of designing over two thousand feet of floodwalls and bridge replacement from Alma Street to downstream of U.S. 101. This project was designed in compliance with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and Santa Clara Valley Water District flood control standards.

The Challenge

In early phases of design, MTCo evaluated number of different design alternatives for floodwalls, while managing to avoid service interruption to existing 60 KV transmission line, minimizing disruption to adjacent property owners, evaluating contractor's access and constructability of the wall, and including requirements to provide SCVWD maintenance accesses.

The Results

The design selected for implementation of flood walls satisfied all design constraints, while the construction cost of these walls was delivered under budget. The end result was that this project protected the neighborhood from 1% floodplain and removed these areas from the FEMA flood zone.