Contri Construction wins Fish Springs pipeline job

Contri Construction of Reno won a $34.6 million contract to lay 28 miles of 30-inch steel pipe to bring water from Fish Springs Ranch to the North Valleys, said Vidler Water Co.

Vidler is managing partner of Fish Springs Ranch LLC, developer of the $70 million project.

Crews at the Northwest Pipe Co. plant in Adelanto, Calif., meanwhile, are gearing up to produce more than 150,000 feet of pipe an order valued at more than $13 million to be delivered before the work begins in November.

When the line is completed in late 2007, it will deliver up to 8,000 acre-feet of water an acre-foot serves the needs of slightly more than two households to the North Valleys.

Along with construction of the pipeline itself, the project will include equipment for six new wells at Fish Springs Ranch and construction of a pumping station and storage tanks. Those jobs will be awarded in separate contracts.

Sierra Pacific Power Co. has started work on an electric substation at the ranch. The cost of the substation will be paid by Fish Springs Ranch LLC.

"We're moving full speed ahead," said Dorothy Timian-Palmer, chief operating officer of Vidler Water Co.

The new water is earmarked for municipal use. Until it's needed for residential development, it will be available to Washoe County for groundwater recharge and irrigation.

Vidler Water is the largest unit of publicly held Pico Holdings Inc. of La Jolla, Calif. It's developing a dozen water projects in Nevada, California, Arizona, Colorado and Texas.