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Upgrading a former minor league baseball stadium to accommodate Major League Soccer is challenging enough. But the project team behind Jeld-Wen Field had to do it in record time, during record rainfall in Portland, and over a century-old sewer line running underneath the outfield.

鈥淭he schedule was complex and the rain was continuous right until the end,鈥� said Greg Holloran, project manager for Turner Construction. 鈥淲ith a compressed schedule, we were making continuous decisions, and (everyone involved on the project) had to provide unfettered access to each other and make real-time decisions.鈥�

Some of those decisions included building a temporary bridge to carry up to 350,000 pounds of materials over the delicate Tanner Creek sewer located only six feet beneath the playing field and erecting temporary envelopes to allow work to continue indoors while rain poured outside. Crews sometimes worked until midnight to take advantage of drier weather. Despite these challenges, the field was completed on schedule for the opening of the Timbers鈥� soccer season in April 2011.

The project included the addition of a new playing field, a new cantilevered roof covering most of the new seating bowl, club seating with a full-service restaurant, new grandstands with concessions, a new training facility, new entrances, renovated locker rooms and new restrooms, as well as a new 12,000-square-foot training and rehab center for Providence Health & Services.

鈥淚 have been to several Timbers games since we finished,鈥� Holloran said. 鈥淚t really has a great atmosphere and is an exciting place to watch the game.鈥�