The Fulton Pump Station, originally built in 1912 as a one room pump house, had been expanded several times over the years to its maximum capacity of 12 MGD, which did not meet Portland’s future water needs. In 2010 and 2011, the Portland Water Bureau explored several options for upgrading or replacing the pump station and found that replacing the outdated facility with a new 18 MGD pump station located in Willamette Park was the best solution.
This award-winning project involved work at the Fulton Pump Station site, construction of the new Hannah Mason Pump Station (HMPS), a new supply connection to the adjacent Washington County Supply Line (WCSL), which is the main water supply line to Portland’s Westside customers, and restoration of Willamette Park. Additionally, the project included approximately 400 LF of new 30-inch, 220 feet of 48-inch and 220 feet of 42-inch steel piping, and 450 LF of 24-inch diameter ductile iron suction piping along a highly congested corridor of existing buried utilities, force main sewer piping and connections, and stormwater control and detention facilities.
The new HMPS building housed five vertical turbine pumps, a PGE equipment room, public restrooms, and park equipment storage. The scope of work also included the complex start-up of instrumentation and controls, pumping systems, electrical, and other types of mechanical equipment, and training for the respective systems for the City’s operations staff.
The building exterior included vegetative eco-roof system, louvers for HVAC and flood louvers on the ground level. A permanently attached roof tie-down fall restraint and fall-arrest system was installed for worker safety. The finished concrete walls are both corrugated and smooth with both colored and stained areas in a subtle design meant to blend into the surrounding Willamette Park landscape.
Replacement of the 20 LF section of 60” WCSL with 60” cement lined and coated pipe to supply water to new pump station required careful coordination with the owner to manage potential interruptions to this major water delivery supply line and complete the installation within a tight work window. New piping was constructed to connect the original pump station to the newly constructed pump station. Pipework included installation of 30” Steel Discharge Line and 24” Ductile Iron Supply Line that was bored under existing railroad tracks and the remaining reach was open cut. JWF utilized slide rail excavation systems to install the piping and for the 20’ x 34’ x 10’ reinforced concrete thrust block. Completion of the project included grading and landscaping improvements, greenway improvements, and facility start-up, testing and certification of the new pump station.
The project was located in a busy urban area with many highly utilized local businesses and heavy traffic with simultaneous construction projects taking place by other contractors. JWF carefully coordinated with numerous city, state, and private authorities, local businesses, and other contractors to strategically schedule the work and maintain public access, minimize community impact, alleviate interference with other contractor work schedules, and ultimately complete the project successfully within budget and on schedule.
