Drill Tech Selects Planera for Schedule-Critical Tunnel Projects

July 15, 2025 – Pleasanton, CA – Planera, the leader in visual CPM-based construction scheduling, today announced that Drill Tech Drilling & Shoring, Inc, the expert in specialty geotechnical construction, has selected Planera to provide it with next generation scheduling capabilities. Drill Tech has immediately put the Planera solution to work on two of its most complex and schedule-critical tunnel projects: updating a five mile long hydroelectric tunnel at the New Bullards Bar Reservoir, the 5th tallest dam in the United States, and the creation of a new tunnel at the Stanford Linear Accelerator, the world-leading science lab where researchers explore the most basic questions about matter, energy, and the universe.

Drill Tech Drilling & Shoring, Inc. is a full-service engineering contractor specializing in geotechnical construction, including tunneling, shafts, deep foundations, ground improvement, and earth retention. Founded in 1994, the company has grown from a small California business to a nationwide firm with over 500 employees and offices in multiple states. Drill Tech aims to transition from traditional scheduling solutions, such as Microsoft Project, to Planera, and has initiated the shift by using Planera to schedule two challenging tunnel projects.

Colgate Tunnel Project

Situated in Yuba County, CA, the New Bullards Bar Dam stands 645 feet tall, and the reservoir it created when completed in 1970 is capable of storing nearly one million acre-feet of water. The Colgate Tunnel – nearly 26’ in diameter – and penstock pipe carry water nearly five miles from the dam for the production of hydropower. In January of 2025, the Yuba Water Agency awarded a $77 million contract to retrofit the tunnel and penstock pipe to a joint venture created by Drill Tech and Obayashi. With this project, the JV will remove rocks and debris, repair and reinforce the tunnel, and install a newly anchored valve & thrust block system at the top of the penstock pipe. The upgraded valve will enhance the agency’s ability to protect downstream infrastructure and improve access for future maintenance.

“For every day that this dam is offline, Yuba Water is forfeiting significant power generation revenue, and the pressure to hit our schedule exactly will be intense,”  said Brian Harris, Project Executive, Drill Tech Drilling & Shoring. “We greatly appreciate Planera’s ease of use in comparison to Microsoft Project,” Harris continued. “Scheduling this project precisely was tricky and involves many subcontractors. Planera helped us to maximize our chances to get this critical schedule set up right.”

Stanford Linear Accelerator Project

The Low Emittance Injector Tunnel (LEIT) is a critical infrastructure project at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in Menlo Park, California, designed to support the LINAC Coherent Light Source II High Energy (LCLS-II-HE) upgrade. The LCLS-II-HE upgrade is a major enhancement to the world-leading X-ray laser facility at SLAC. Its primary function is to generate extremely bright, ultrafast X-ray pulses-specifically in the "hard" X-ray regime-at unprecedented repetition rates and energies, enabling scientists to probe matter at the atomic and molecular scale in real time. 

The LEIT project includes a 220-foot-long reinforced concrete tunnel (fully waterproofed to prevent groundwater intrusion) that will house a new lower-emittance electron beam injector at the laboratory. The project also features a two-story west portal entrance reinforced concrete operations facility building, and an east egress stairwell shaft and building. The new tunnel facilities will connect to the existing LINAC housing via a transfer tunnel as well. The project scope also includes other heavy civil infrastructure and site upgrades, mechanical and electrical systems, security cameras, and fire protection systems to meet life safety requirements. The LEIT is integral to SLAC's mission of advancing scientific research through high-energy X-ray capabilities.

“SLAC is an operating lab, so there are only certain periods available when the laser and ongoing operations can be shut down so we can execute our work,” said Drill Tech’s Brian Harris. “Moreover, given that we will be drilling just 15’ from critical existing infrastructure, this project will be particularly challenging. As with the Colgate Tunnel project, with the SLAC project, our success depends once again on developing and adhering to an excellent schedule that weaves new construction elements concurrently around existing laboratory operations. The collaborative nature of Planera enables us to get a diverse set of project team members involved in creating that schedule. And tapping the knowledge and talents of a cross-functional team will help us to create the best possible schedule for the work.”

“Working with Drill Tech on such challenging projects offers an excellent opportunity to put our software to the test,” said Nitin Bhandari, CEO of Planera. “We are confident that our visual, collaborative approach to construction scheduling offers a better user experience than that of traditional scheduling solutions, and we’re excited by the chance to partner with Drill Tech on projects for which nailing the schedule is so essential.”

About Planera
Planera is a leading provider of visual, CPM-based construction scheduling solutions that simplify and transform the way projects are planned and managed. Through its visual scheduling solution that is both powerful and easy to use, Planera helps construction teams bring clarity and efficiency to project timelines, empowering teams to build faster, smarter, and on schedule. Planera works with construction industry leaders such as Granite, Big-D Construction, Barton Malow and Blach Construction and is backed by investors such as Sierra Ventures, Sorenson, Brick & Mortar Ventures, Prudence, and Firebolt. For more information, visit www.planera.io.