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When excavation work at Portland’s Block 40 this past fall turned up lead and other soil contaminants, progress slowed to a crawl. Substantial personal protective equipment was required for personnel on site and a decontamination container was installed for workers handling the tainted soil.

鈥淚n a weird way, we were kind of preparing for COVID-19,鈥� Andersen Construction project manager Mike Carrigg said.

Andersen Construction is serving as the general contractor for the project to erect an eight-story mixed-use building for developer Alamo Manhattan.

鈥淟ike most of Portland, it seems, there’s all this dirt down there from dredging the Willamette (River) back in the 1920s,鈥� Carrigg said. 鈥淚t ended up having a high concentration of polycarbonates and lead, actually. That was fun, and we ended up having to dig it all out.鈥�

Carrigg estimated that crews needed around a month to complete mitigation. But then it was full steam ahead.

鈥淲e were able to get rid of everything and have a clean bill of health,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he job’s going forward, and as you can see now we’re doing the concrete.鈥�

Hensley Lamkin Rachel Inc. of Dallas, Texas, designed the 232-unit project located at 3838 S.W. Macadam Ave. A single-story, 37,000-square-foot warehouse that formerly served La Grand Industrial Supply Co. was removed from the 1.07-acre site prior to excavation.

The project also includes construction of a public plaza on the Southwest Lane Avenue right-of-way adjacent to the site’s north side.

Block 40 is part of a two-block development from Alamo Manhattan that received the Portland Design Commission’s approval in 2018. A seven-story, 190-unit mixed-use building is planned at 3714 S.W. Macadam Ave.

Earlier this month, crews from R2M2 Rebar and Stressing and ASI Structures completed monolithic slab-on-grade concrete pours for the Block 40 building’s foundation and footings, which sit one level below grade. Crews simultaneously assembled the shoring and tables for another post-tensioned concrete deck at ground level.

Because of the property’s steep grade, the building will feature eight stories on the east side and seven stories fronting Macadam Avenue on the west side. Each side will have five stories of wood framing atop the concrete decks.

The pandemic has had less of an impact on materials and workforce than it might have during later scopes of work, Carrigg said.

鈥淲e’re kind of in a fortunate time frame in that we’re not dealing with finishes right now,鈥� he said.

Nevertheless, Andersen Construction is taking measures to account for potential delays.

鈥淲e did get these table forms early,鈥� Carrigg said. 鈥淲e’re using rented equipment from PERI, and some of their yards were closing a couple of weeks ago. We were like, 鈥楲et’s get the material here now so we have control over our own destiny.’ That’s been a big help. We’re saying, 鈥楬ave a storage problem; don’t have a no-supply problem.’鈥�

That’s a relief, he added, after losing another week trying to source adequate supplies of waterproofing materials for the foundation and parking-level walls.

鈥淲e’re still OK,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e’re still tracking schedule, but man, it makes you nervous.鈥�