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PORTLAND, OREGON’S OTHER CSO TUNNELS

2005

Greg Colzani
Jacobs Associates, Portland

Michelle Lostra
City of Portland, Bureau of Environmental Services

Jan Babendererde
Impregilo-SA Healy

Red Blanchette
Impregilo-SA Healy

 



The City of Portland’s Westside CSO Project is constructing a deep tunnel system to reduce combined sewer overflows (CSO) from entering the Willamette River. Several kilometers of microtunneled pipelines connect the existing system to the new tunnel. The alignments encountered a variety of ground conditions, including fill, man made obstructions (wood, steel piles, debris), fine-grained to dense coarse-grained materials, cobbles and boulders, all below groundwater. A slurry MTBM convertible to varying diameters, equipped with mixshield capabilities, was selected to cope with the conditions. This paper will discuss access shaft construction, MTBM selection, performance and challenges encountered during construction.