News

For any tunnel project, gaining access to the underground is a critical – if sometimes overlooked – component. The building of vertical shafts is the most common method of getting men and material into and out of the tunnel, but shaft construction is no easy matter due to challenging soils, the presence of groundwater, conflicting utilities and risk of settlement to adjacent structures.

Constructing pipelines and shafts to control combined sewer overflows is no simple matter, especially when doing so through a former landfill. Working their way through fragments of glass, brick, wood, wire and sheet metal, in addition to unexpected boulders and even an automobile chassis, project team members for the Balch Consolidation Conduit Shafts and Pipelines produced a project that exceeded expectations.

The award-winning design of the new Lake Oswego Interceptor Sewer replaced a deteriorating sewer pipeline beneath the 415-acre Oswego Lake.

King County is getting ready to use a shaft excavation machine that will be the first of its kind in North America.

On March 4, 2010, the Lake Oswego Interceptor Sewer (LOIS) project received bids from five prequalified general contractors for the last phase of the LOIS project – the “Lake Down” phase.

PORT ANGELES — Construction equipment is scheduled to arrive next month at the future site of the Lower Elwha Klallam’s new fish hatchery.

A Pacific Northwest dam removal project, said by its owner, the National Park Service, to be the largest of its type in the U.S., is one step closer to beginning after the recent completion of a new water treatment plant in Port Angeles, Wash. NPS officials expect contractors to proceed with dismantling Elwha and Glines Canyon dams on the Olympic Peninsula in 2012.

The $10 million Brightwater North Creek Facilities Site project, a small portion of the more than $1.8 billion Brightwater wastewater treatment center, is now complete.

The Portland Bureau of Environmental Services last week celebrated the opening of its new $8 million co-generation facility at the Columbia Boulevard Wastewater Treatment plant.

Donning hard hats and safety vests, five students participating in the Oregon Building Congress’ Student Construction Academy got a first look at James W. Fowler Co.’s latest construction project at the Columbia Boulevard Wastewater Treatment Plant.