SW Market-Madison Sewer Project

Project Overview

The SW Market-Madison Sewer Project is the current project in a series of projects to repair and replace aging public sewer pipes in downtown Portland that are in poor condition. The existing pipes were built between 1880 and 1992. They are showing signs of cracks, breaks, holes, offset connections, grease obstructions, and tree root intrusions. Timely repairs now will make them last another 80 years, increase their resiliency to earthquake damage, and provide safe and reliable sewer service to downtown Portland. 

Project Area and Map

The project boundary is from SW Madison to SW Market streets between SW Naito Parkway and SW 13th Avenue. 

View full size image of SW Market-Madison project area is from SW Madison to SW Market streets between SW Naito Parkway and SW 13th Avenue.

What's Happening Now

What to Expect During Construction

You can expect the following activities and impacts during construction:

• Construction Work Hours: Work hours will be a combination of daytime (7 a.m. to 6 p.m.) and nighttime (6 p.m. to 7 a.m.) hours as needed to construct sewer repairs as quickly as possible with as little disruption as possible.
• A Safe Work Site: Crews will set up safe work zones to protect crews and the public from the hazards associated with construction.
• Parking Restriction and Traffic Delays: Construction will temporarily restrict some travel lanes and sidewalk crossings in work zones, remove on-street parking, and create traffic delays.
• Access to Your Home or Business: You will be able to go to your home or business, but you may not be able to park as close as you would like. We will try to make sure driveways and parking garage entrances stay open.
• Equipment Storage: Security patrol may be on-site for overnight work and some daytime work to help keep crews, pedestrians, and equipment safe in locations with heavy pedestrian traffic.
• Noise, Vibration, and Dust: The City's contractors take care to keep noise, dust, vibration, odor, traffic delays, and other potential construction nuisances to a minimum. With the methods the contractor is using for this project, no CIPP lining odor is anticipated.
• Schedule Changes and Inactivity: Our work schedules can change for many reasons like weather, traffic, and problems with tools, machines, or supplies. Sometimes we need to stop between different types of work and start again later.
• Cross Agency Collaboration: Construction in downtown Portland requires coordination with multiple partners.

Construction Work Hours

In order to reduce public impacts and complete the work as quickly as possible, the City’s Noise Office granted Environmental Services a noise variance to allow a combination of daytime and nighttime work hours:

• Daytime work will occur between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, and Saturdays as needed. Hours may vary to limit traffic impacts.
• Nighttime work will occur between 6 p.m. and 7 a.m. Monday through Friday, and Saturdays as needed. Hours may vary to limit traffic impacts and noise. 

The noisier work to dig small trenches and access pits will be done during the day. CIPP lining may be done at night in some locations where levels of sewage and stormwater flow in the pipes are lower and less likely to negatively impact the lining.

Pre-Construction Activities

Before repairs begin at each location, crews will be onsite to locate utilities, inspect and clean pipes, set up traffic controls and tree protections, stage equipment and materials, and set up sewer bypass systems to ensure uninterrupted sewer service. 

These pre-construction activities will occur over time, not all at once:

• Site visits and evaluation
• Survey
• Utility locates
• Soil sampling and geotechnical investigations
• Pipe cleaning and inspection
• Pre-existing conditions photos
• Tree trimming and protection
• Erosion control
• Equipment and material setup
• Traffic control setup and on-street parking removal
• Public information distribution

Traffic Controls

The city's contractor will work with the Portland Bureau of Transportation on street use permits and traffic control plans necessary to complete the public sewer repairs as quickly as possible. You can expect some on-street parking removal, traffic delays in and around the work zones, restricted or closed travel lanes, and restricted pedestrian crossings. Sidewalks will remain open. Local access will be provided to parking garages and businesses.

To avoid circling around construction to find parking, please use SmartPark garages. 

Site Visits and Building Investigations

Environmental Services and its contractors may need to enter buildings in the project area to gather information that will help them design and construct necessary sewer repairs. They may need access for any or all of the following activities:

• Locate, inspect, and evaluate sewer and stormwater pipes and connections, sewer service laterals, cleanouts, sump pumps, and other private plumbing facilities.
• Determine basement and sub-basement layouts, utility vault locations and elevators, parking garage layouts, and other private property features.
• Survey existing sewers on private properties.
• Identify and mark utilities in areas surrounding the sewer.
• Collect and analyze soil and water samples.

Environmental Services and its contractors will coordinate with building managers and property owners to schedule site visits, arrange access, and conduct investigations as needed.

Extreme Weather 

When high temperatures, extreme heat, near freezing temperatures, or extreme cold are in the weather forecast, crews may adjust schedules to protect workers from the dangers of heat stress and cold stress. When working in extreme weather environments, all City workers, contractors, and subcontractors must follow Oregon’s OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) mandates and Environmental Services’ Heat Illness Safety and Health Plan and its Cold Stress Safety and Health Plan. You may see crews taking more frequent water and rest breaks, staring work as early as 6 a.m., stopping work at 12 p.m., and taking other protective measures during extreme weather conditions.

Construction Methods

This project will use several construction methods to repair or replace public sewer pipes. Most of the methods will be trenchless, although some of those methods will require digging access pits to install pipes. Trenchless methods avoid having to dig deep and long trenches in downtown streets to replace whole pipes. The multiple underground utilities in the downtown area make major open trench excavation almost impossible. 

The project is currently designed to use the following sewer construction methods:

• Cured-in-Place-Pipe Lining (CIPP) to install liners that seal cracks, help prevent root intrusion and restore the pipes to near-new condition.
• Pipe Reaming to replace and upsize public sewer pipes in SW Madison Street and in SW Jefferson Street.
• Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD) to construct sewer extensions and service laterals.
• Open Trench Excavation to dig small trenches to replace short sections of broken pipe before repairing the entire mainline sewer pipe, and to construct sewer service laterals and access pits.
• Vactor Excavation to install sewer cleanouts so that crews can access sewer connections to downtown buildings and maintain sewer service during repairs.

Keeping You Informed

CIPP Lining - Unpleasant odors and how to prevent them

The primary method for repairing public sewer pipes will be cured-in-place-pipe (CIPP) lining.

During the CIPP lining process, residents may smell an odor like plastic or glue. This will dissipate quickly once the process is complete. The odor is from chemicals in the liner resin. The amounts detected by an independent industrial hygienist are below health risk levels. To keep resin odors from entering a home or business through the private sewer line, fill any floor drains and infrequently used sinks with a small amount of water. This water will collect in the bend in the drain, called a "P-trap," and block odors from the sewer.

If a resin odor is already in a home or business, cover basement floor drains and open windows to allow ventilation. If the odor continues, phone or email the contacts provided on the contractor's construction notice or call Environmental Services at 503-865-4300 and leave a message with the address, project name, and name and phone number for follow-up.

Pipe Reaming

Pipe reaming is a trenchless method for replacing or upsizing sewer pipes without open trenching. It breaks up the old pipe while pulling a new one into place. Like pipe bursting, it requires digging entry and exit pits, but instead of displacing fragments into the soil, it grinds them and removes them using a vacuum excavator. This makes pipe reaming ideal in areas where nearby utilities or buildings make vibration or soil disruption a concern.

Steps in the pipe reaming process include the following:

• Dig small trenches to expose sewer lateral connections where adjacent properties are connected to the mainline public sewer.
• Disconnect and temporarily bypass lateral connections.
• Cover the trenches with steel plates and proceed with the pipe reaming process.
• Dig sending and receiving pits.
• Insert the reaming tool and attach the new pipe.
• Pull or push the reaming tool through the existing mainline sewer pipe, breaking it apart while pulling the new sewer pipe in place. The pipe reaming process grinds the broken pieces of the old mainline sewer pipe into smaller fragments.
• Vacuum out pipe fragments through the new pipe.
• Reconnect laterals, backfill pits, and apply temporary asphalt.
• Conduct inspections and complete permanent pavement restoration.

Sewer Service Laterals

A sewer service lateral is a pipe that provides a public sewer connection for a house, business, or undeveloped property. It runs from the mainline public sewer in the street to the curb and connects to the property’s private sewer line or is capped at the property line for future use, e.g., future development or resolution of a nonconforming sewer connection.

A sewer service lateral may be replaced using either the open trench excavation method or a trenchless method such as CIPP lining, pipe bursting, or pipe reaming.

The City of Portland is responsible for maintaining the public portion of the lateral sewer pipe from the mainline public sewer to the curb. The private property owner is responsible for maintaining the private lateral sewer pipe from the curb to the house or building.

Sewer Cleanouts

A sewer cleanout is a capped opening above the sewer service lateral that connects a building to the mainline public sewer. It enables crews to access and repair that connection. Cleanouts will be used to maintain sewer service during the pipe-lining process, and to provide access for future maintenance.

Cleanouts are typically installed near the curb but may also be placed in the sidewalk or near the building. Sewer cleanout installation requires digging a hole where the cleanout will be located. This construction creates noise, vibration, and dust.

Spot Repairs

Spot repairs will require open trench excavation to replace small sections of mainline public sewer pipe that can't be repaired by pipe lining. Crews will return at a future date to complete the full-length pipelining process. 

We Want to Hear from You

Environmental Services will inform residents and businesses about project activities and respond to questions and concerns in a timely manner. The following resources will help you stay informed and report concerns:

• Project Webpage: Please continue to visit portland.gov/bes/market-madison for details and weekly updates.
• Updates: To receive email or text message updates for this project, we encourage you to sign up now. Updates provided through our free GovDelivery subscription service are the best way to stay informed about what’s happening and what to expect. You can also sign up for bulletins on other projects and topics.
• Questions? Call the message line at 503-823-5759 or email city staff, stating that SW Market-Madison (E11000) is your project of concern. Outreach staff will return your call by the next business day.
• Nighttime Construction Noise Complaint: Call the City Noise hotline at 503-823-1338, stating that SW Market-Madison (E11000) is your area of concern. The noise hotline is monitored by site inspectors.
• Sewer Emergency: In the event of a sewer backup or basement flooding, call the City Maintenance hotline immediately at 503-823-1700. It is staffed all hours and all days, 24/7.
• Other Downtown Sewer Projects: For a list and maps of other downtown sewer projects, visit the program webpage. 

Project Background

The SW Market-Madison Sewer Project is designed to accomplish the following sewer improvements: 

• Repair 11,720 feet (more than two miles) of aging public sewer pipes in from SW Market to SW Madison streets between SW Naito Parkway and SW 13th Avenue.
• Upsize three public sewer mainline pipes to help prevent basement sewer backups.
• Install 12 maintenance access holes.
• Install 4 cleanouts for access to maintain sewer pipes and other cleanouts needed for the CIPP Lining sewer repair method.
• Replace or repair 160 sewer service laterals that connect buildings to the public sewer.
• Clear roots and flush debris from public sewer pipes in the project area.
• Repair, replace, or add maintenance holes as needed.
• Install cleanouts on sewer service laterals to high-rise buildings to enable future sewer maintenance access.
• Repair or replace active sewer service laterals for individual property connections.
• Assist and support 11 customers with nonconforming sewer connections to achieve the recommended sewer connection for their property.  

In addition, Environmental Services will collaborate with the Portland Water Bureau where possible to replace their water lines with earthquake resistant pipe. Construction in downtown Portland requires coordination with multiple partners.

Sign Up for Updates

Sign up for periodic email or text message updates for the SW Market-Madison Sewer Project through our free GovDelivery subscription service. These updates are the best way to stay informed about what’s happening and what to expect. You can also sign up for bulletins on other projects and topics. 

This project will help protect the health of the Willamette River Watershed.