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Five years of construction on the East Side Big Pipe project are on track to come to an end this September. According to Debbie Caselton, a community relations representative with the Portland Bureau of Environmental Services, 鈥渇inal hookup鈥� work will be completed this summer.

The $464 million eastside Big Pipe project aims to divert overflow into the Willamette River by creating a six-mile long, 22-foot diameter combined storm water and sewer overflow tunnel on the east side of the river from Southeast 17^th Avenue and McLoughlin Boulevard to Swan Island.

Tunneling began in 2007 and finished last October. Currently, crews are building or restoring seven shafts that will connect overflows to the tunnel. They are also installing bubbler tubes that will measure the water level in the tunnel. This summer, overflows will be connected to the tunnels, which will require above-ground work and the closing of some intersections for up to a month and a half, Caselton said.

The contractor for the big pipe project is joint venture Kiewit-Bilfinger Berger.

When the project is finished, BES estimates that the volume of sewage and storm water that now overflows to the river when it rains will be reduced by more than 94 percent.