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One of the largest construction projects in Oregon right now is taking place mostly underground.

The $1.3 billion Willamette Water Supply Program is an amalgam of dozens of infrastructure projects that together over the next six years will provide a long-term water supply for the west side of the Portland-metro area. The Tualatin Valley Water District is the managing partner for all of the work, which began in 2015 with construction of a 2.7-mile-long pipeline along the new Southwest 124th Avenue in unincorporated Washington County.

That project was the first of many involving a host of municipal, county and regional partners that together will total more than 30 miles of finished pipeline by 2026. Supportive infrastructure will include a new water treatment plant in Sherwood’s Tonquin Employment Area, a raw water intake facility on the river in Wilsonville and a new reservoir on Cooper Mountain with twin 15 million gallon tanks. Plus, these efforts will be accompanied by a number of large road projects.

It’s a massive undertaking, and one that the water district hopes will secure enough fresh water to accommodate anticipated an increase in population in Washington County by as many as 200,000 people by 2040.

鈥淎n engineering firm and a contractor are hired to do each individual project,鈥� said Libby Bakke of Barney & Worth, a Portland-based communications firm helping coordinate public outreach. 鈥淔or such a large, complex project, it’s been on time and on budget. It’s one of Oregon’s largest infrastructure projects and it’s been very successful so far at getting pipe in the ground.鈥�

The Willamette Water Supply Program is the public banner under which the Tualatin Valley Water District, consulting firm Stantec, Washington County, the cities of Hillsboro, Beaverton, Sherwood, Wilsonville and others are operating. Throughout the early planning stages, a premium was placed on being able to carry out road and pipe projects simultaneously to save both time and money. The first such project was Southwest 124th Avenue, but many others will be done in the same fashion. All are being constructed to the latest seismic standards.

鈥淥n six projects we’re partnering with Washington County,鈥� said Andre Tolme, a construction manager with the Willamette Water Supply Program. 鈥淲e’re working with their land-use and transportation departments to determine where they plan to do road widening and improvements or build new roads. Then we’re constructing our large-diameter water pipelines at the same time as the road construction. It saves money for public agencies, the taxpayers and rate payers, and significantly decreases the impact to the public.鈥�

Maintaining transparency is a key part of the entire endeavor and the reason for extensive public outreach. The Willamette Water Supply Program recently benefited from the award of a $640 million U.S. Environmental Protection Agency grant. It came via the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act program established by the Obama administration.

鈥淚t’s huge,鈥� said Joelle Bennett, deputy director for the Willamette Water Supply Program. 鈥淟arge projects across the country compete for this funding, and it impacts all rate-paying customers.鈥�

Currently, several general contractors’ crews are carrying out sizable pipeline and road projects. The most noteworthy ones are a pair of large pipeline efforts near the edge of the urban growth boundary west of Cooper Mountain in Beaverton. There, a 7,000-foot-long pipe is being installed along Roy Rogers Road in partnership with Washington County, which is improving that road at the same time. An even larger project is being carried out along Scholls Ferry Road west to Tile Flat Road: General contractor Emery & Sons Construction Group is laying over 10,000 feet of 66-inch-diameter, cement-lined steel pipe next to a massive residential development being constructed up to the edge of the UGB by developer Polygon Northwest.

With all the Willamette Water Supply Program projects numbered by phase and geography, the so-called Scholls Area Pipeline Project is actually three separate major projects totaling 7.2 miles of pipeline. Phase one is the project along Roy Rogers Road, which will see some 7,000 feet of pipe installed during the course of 2020. Phase two is the 10,000-foot stretch being constructed along Scholls Ferry and Tile Flat roads north to the new reservoir site. Phase three will see the pipeline extended from the reservoir at Grabhorn Road north to Farmington Road, with construction there anticipated to start in 2022.

Emery & Sons crews are currently backfilling new sections of pipeline and preparing to excavate a new section along the east side of Tile Flat Road.

鈥淭he hardest thing with this project was coordinating with the developer (Polygon Northwest) to widen the road and develop their property,鈥� Tolme said, pointing east across open fields toward newly installed erosion control measures.

Crews have completed 3,200 feet of the new segment and are now grouting and finishing the interior of the last stretch of completed line in preparation for hydrostatic pressure testing. Then excavation will resume.

鈥淭hey’re doing the interior grouts for the welded joints,鈥� Emery & Sons project manager Ryan Knox said. 鈥淎lso, our inspector is in there checking out the work, so we have an opening up here and a manway where they are working their way through the pipe.鈥�

Construction on this phase began in early 2019 and is expected to wrap up in November 2020.

By then, Willamette Water Supply Program construction will be entering its busiest stretch.

鈥�2021 and ’22 will be the busiest construction years, where we’ll have 10 projects simultaneously going,鈥� Tolme said. 鈥淲e have three others right now that are just getting started.鈥�

An overview of the Willamette Water Supply Program is available at