PITTSBURG — Construction on a $400 million project to improve reliability of the power grid in the region started with a bang.

Pittsburg is building a converter station for Trans Bay Cable to move excess power from East Bay to San Francisco. In mid-April, workers with Siemens, the project's contractor, started the clangorous process of driving piles — or strong support columns — into the ground at the approximately 51/2-acre site on West 10th Street.

Construction piles are driven into the earth using a pile driver to form the core strength of a structure. Samuel Wehn of Babcock & Brown, the Australian investment firm developing and financing the project, said piles are required because of soil conditions at the site. Officials expect the structures to be completed by the summer of 2010.

The 20 piles driven into the ground were a test before actual work starts in June, said Garrett Evans, general manager of Pittsburg Power Company. All told, the civil construction will include anywhere from 350 to 400 piles.

With the work comes incessant noise — each pylon has to be struck about 150 times by heavy machinery — along with the spew of noxious smoke from cranes, some minor shaking in the ground and dust clouds. Work can only be done from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., according to rules set by Pittsburg officials.

Neighbors like Charles Del Monte of Redwood Painting Co. say noise has not been a problem

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thus far.

"We're not going to complain unless it becomes a problem," Del Monte said, adding his firm is also in construction and knows it is loud.

As a way of showing neighboring residents and businesses they are cognizant of the hassle, Pittsburg and Trans Bay Cable are holding a private entertainment night for those affected in early May.

"Basically, it's a way to say we're sorry for the noise, and thanks for putting up for us," Evans said.

Upon completion, the station will include a 35-foot-tall, 22,900-square-foot converter hall and a 1,507-square-foot spare parts building and transformers and poles roughly 65 feet tall. All of the buildings will be surrounded by a 10-foot-tall concrete wall masked with shrubs and trees, awnings and columns.

"For the most part, people will see the landscaping in front, but it is meant to be very nondescript and industrial-looking," Evans said of the building.

Shipping some of the East Bay's excess power to San Francisco is a cost-effective energy efficient way to address San Francisco's in-city power needs while reducing grid congestion, Evans said.

Construction on the San Francisco end of Trans Bay Cable project is about two months behind Pittsburg's, with the civil construction kicking off near Potrero Port in August, Evans said. Fifty-three miles of underwater high-voltage, direct current cable to be laid between the cities is being manufactured in Naples, Italy, and will be delivered in December. The hope is to have the project operational by summer 2010.

Pittsburg stands to gain about $5.5 million in fees and $500,000 a year to manage the new power station.

There will be about a dozen employees responsible for nonintense monitoring jobs, Evans said. As part of the deal, Babcock & Brown will give about $35.5 million to the Port of San Francisco and $23.5 million to the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission.

For more information about the project, call 925-295-0419 or visit transbaycable.com.

Paul Burgarino covers Pittsburg and Bay Point. Reach him at 925-779-7164 or pburgarino@bayareanewsgroup.com.