W.B. Hopke Continues Wet Utilities Project for Townhouse Development at 7700 Leesburg Pike in Falls Church, VA

W.B. Hopke continues its work on the wet utilities installation at 7700 Leesburg Pike, aka Tysons Ridge in Falls Church, VA. The 104 multi-unit townhouse project, which Hopke began on February 22, 2023, is approximately 85% complete. It is overseen by general contractor EYA Construction, LLC out of Beltsville, MD. Hopke is the subcontractor to Pleasants Construction, Inc and is scheduled to complete the storm, sanitary and water by the spring/summer of 2024.

The 6.73-acre site that originally included low-rise office buildings has now been completely replaced with nine residential affordable-dwelling units. Most of the spacious units will have an option for an upper-level addition and cantilevered decks. There will be 281 parking spaces including a two-car garage for each unit and some on-street parking.

Hopke project manager, Mike Fiebert, shared his insights about the large-scale project which involves the installation of a full sanitary sewer and domestic water system, including individual services to 104 units. A Hopke subcontractor will complete 4 wet taps (to existing mains) to connect the new installation to existing infrastructure. “For storm run-off and storm water management, we have installed two large Contech CMP (Corrugated Metal Pipe) Detention Systems, two Jellyfish Treatment Systems and one ADS StormTech Detention System. The Jellyfish Treatment structures are used to filter out and capture floatables, trash, oil, and other debris, while the CMP and StormTech detention systems store stormwater runoff that exceed the site’s allowable discharge, then releases it slowly over time. The CMPs will manage and control the release of water on the South half of the property while the ADS system will treat the North half,” said Mr. Fiebert.

This project includes more than 5000 LF of sanitary piping with 17 structures, 2900 LF of storm water piping and 56 structures and 2000 LF of water line. Hopke will run the water lines to within 5 feet of each unit where a plumbing company will do the eventual connections to each unit.

Said Fiebert, “This project is standard by most measures; however, it did have a couple of unique challenges. The installation of the CMPs required additional forethought due to their close proximity to existing utilities and the size of the excavation required. We had to build a slide rail system, which is a vertical rail and panel system that protects our workers while they worked within the excavation and lowered the CMPs into place.. The precast concrete Jellyfish systems required a crane to install them, due to their weight. We were able to coordinate and install both Jellyfish systems on the same day.”

Special Thanks

W.B. Hopke would like to thank everyone on staff for the extra time and effort to keep this project moving in a timely manner including project manager, Paul Cloutier who initially started the project in February 2023, and Mike Fiebert who took over the project in the summer of 2023. Also, a special thanks to our estimator, Charlie McClellan for his bid work, to superintendent Manuel Bonilla, foreman Roberto Gonzales, Tommy Kennedy and Mike Lipps, and their crew members Raul Vasquez, Jeovany Contreras, Miguel Cruz, Fredrick Oliver, Ray Raquan, Dillon Kennedy, Jose Zelaya, Juvniton Madrid, Jose Lisaudro Posada, William Alexis, Jose Hernandez, Alcides Jovel, Nelson Portillo, Makal Fletcher and Javon Alexander.

W.B. Hopke is a fourth generation, family-run construction business focused on building high quality utility infrastructure and lifelong careers. Hopke is located in Alexandria, VA and works throughout DC, Maryland, and Virginia. With almost 70 years of experience, Hopke prides itself on repeat customers across all kinds of market segments – schools, churches, data centers, distribution facilities, multi-family, mixed use, residential subdivisions, senior living, self storage, heavy highway, retail, commercial office, automotive, stream restoration, and parks.

Contact W.B. Hopke about a career in utility installation and site work at 703-971-0404 or info@wbhopke.com.

References

“Townhouses coming to parcel across from Marshall High School,” INSIDE NOVA, https://www.insidenova.com/news/fairfax/townhouses-coming-to-parcel-across-from-marshall-high-school/article_ff2723a4-8845-11ec-8b62-3368f010330f.html, accessed January 23, 2024

“Tysons Ridge,” EYA, https://www.eya.com/new-townhomes/tysons-va/tysons-ridge, accessed January 23, 2024.