Willamette River Crossing Project Update - December 2019

• We teamed up. In May 2019, we kicked off the exploration phase of our work by teaming up with J.W. Fowler Company. We chose their design build team because of their innovative proposal to combine two modern construction methods—Horizontal Directional Drilling and Microtunneling—to bury pipe deep in bedrock, where it will be greatly protected from earthquake risks and have less impact on businesses, the public, and the environment.
• We tested our assumptions. This fall, we let you know about utility locates and soil sampling. Our crews took our ideas out in to the world and tested our assumptions about the locations of utilities and composition of soil underground along the proposed path of the pipe.
• We laid the foundation with city-wide partnerships. We coordinated efforts with Portland Parks and Recreation and the bureaus of Environmental Services and Transportation to lay the groundwork the coming year. This includes coordinating our efforts with the Southwest Naito Parkway Improvement Project so that our timelines work better together. 

Project Update December 2019