CalContractor Highlights Sukut’s Work at Lake Perris

Sukut Construction is featured in the 2026 Concrete Construction issue of CalContractor magazine for its work on the Lake Perris Emergency Release Facility, a California Department of Water Resources project designed to strengthen dam safety and protect downstream communities.
Part of the Perris Dam Modernization Program, the 115-acre project will provide a controlled route for water if Lake Perris needs to be rapidly lowered during an emergency. The new levee and channel system will direct releases toward the Perris Valley Channel, helping protect nearby homes, businesses, roads, and public infrastructure.

Sukut’s scope includes 6,500 linear feet of levee, 240,000 cubic yards of levee embankment, 342,000 cubic yards of channel excavation, and 35,000 cubic yards of rock slope protection. Crews are also constructing two roadway bridges at Evans Road and Lake Perris Drive, a precast concrete box culvert crossing at Fair Way, drainage improvements, and extensive utility relocations. The work incorporates 6,000 cubic yards of structural concrete, along with roadway reconstruction and electrical infrastructure improvements.

The feature highlights the contributions of Project Manager Nathan Rodriguez, Concrete Project Engineer Sarah Scherzinger, Concrete Superintendent Trever Haley, and Earthwork and Underground Project Engineer Scott Steele, alongside Sukut’s field teams and subcontractors.

Groundwater and saturated soils presented early construction challenges. To support excavation reaching 15 feet below existing ground, Sukut installed a temporary dewatering system with 105 wells and 45 pumps. When wet material made scraper operations impractical, crews adapted by using articulated trucks and excavators to maintain production. A wide-track dozer also helped crews work through soft, saturated material within the Perris Valley Channel.

Utility coordination required equally careful planning. Existing water, recycled-water, and sewer lines conflicted with the deeper channel alignment, requiring phased relocations to maintain service while opening areas for excavation. Crews coordinated replacement infrastructure, tie-ins, bridge construction, and traffic shifts while maintaining access through the surrounding transportation and recreation corridor.

Unforeseen utilities, buried concrete structures, environmental constraints, and design conflicts also affected the planned construction sequence. When accumulated impacts threatened to extend completion into April 2028, Sukut’s team reviewed operations to identify work that could be shifted, accelerated, or performed concurrently. Through revised sequencing and collaboration with DWR, the team brought projected completion back to November 2027.

Throughout the feature, planning, communication, and safety emerge as essential to the project’s execution. The coverage illustrates how Sukut’s teams combine earthwork, underground, and structural concrete expertise to solve field challenges and deliver infrastructure that will help protect the community.