Let the Pile Driving Begin: City Offices On Schedule

Everything is moving along well and on schedule at the site of the office building that will be home for city of Novato employees by next fall, according to the city's senior engineer for the project.

The city administrative offices are going up at the corner of Machin Avenue and Cain Lane, site of a parking lot adjacent to the Novato Community House and just a few feet away from Novato City Hall and the Novato Police Department. The Novato City Council unanimously approved construction of the new city headquarters as a replacement for the leased building at 75 Rowland Way. About 60 city employees will work in the new building, including personnel from building, planning, parks, community development and administration.

Senior engineer Julian Skinner said four test piles recently were driven an average of 18 feet deep to check soil conditions, and the results were excellent. Fabricated steel piles are being made now and the first ones will be delivered to the site on Friday, he said. In all, 96 piles will be driven — probably 10 to 15 per day — as a sort of bone structure for the building.

Skinner also said an archaeologist assigned to monitor the initial digs did not find any significant artifacts or bones — just a couple of bottles.

Would you like to follow the progress of the construction? The project management company, Kitchell, unveiled a biweekly e-newsletter on Friday and will share updates over the course of the next year. The first one is uploaded to this story. For updates, bookmark this page on the city's website.

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