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Construction of the has been rescheduled to start in 2027. It was originally set to begin this fall.

Currently, the Portland Water Bureau project is in the design phase. During the past year, a project team including nationally and regionally recognized tunneling experts determined that a different technology and a minor alignment change were needed. Now, microtunneling technology will be used.

The water bureau also has learned new information on construction price projections and supply chain challenges. Plus, construction this year could have overlapped with other water bureau, city, and regional projects. Those factors intensified the potential risks with moving forward with construction now.

鈥淭he water bureau project team is working very hard, as we all have in the last few years, to adapt to changing conditions,鈥� Portland Water Bureau Chief Engineer Jodie Inman said during a media briefing on Tuesday. 鈥淭his is including the change in technology.鈥�

The Willamette River Crossing 鈥� a seismically resilient water line planned deep under the river 鈥� is critical for the city to be able to serve customers following a sizable earthquake, Inman said. Such an event would likely damage the six existing pipes (all age 50 or older) that carry water from the Willamette River鈥檚 east side to its west side, she said.

Inman added that the water bureau and the city have some large infrastructure projects in the works, such as those to improve the city鈥檚 Bull Run treatment facility. With these projects under construction or approaching their start, there is a demand for contractors. Meanwhile, supply chain difficulties persist, and inflation is high. The schedule change for the Willamette River Crossing project will allow prioritization of resources for other projects.

Next steps for revising the Willamette River Crossing schedule include addressing current contracts, closing construction sites, implementing a plan to complete the design, performing outreach to maximize opportunities for contractors certified by the Certification Office for Business Inclusion and Diversity (COBID) prior to rebidding the work, and finally rebidding the project.

The contracts with J.W. Fowler, the design-build contractor, and MJA, the owner鈥檚 representative, contracts will likely be closed, according to the water bureau. New contracts will be procured as the bureau moves toward completing design and beginning construction. Currently, the project is 60 percent designed.

The most significant impacts of construction will be in Block J, which is the lot between Southwest Naito Parkway and Harbor Drive, south of Market Street, near where the off-ramp from northbound Interstate 405 connects to Naito Parkway. Block J will return to its previous condition soon, according to the water bureau.

Construction is estimated to begin in the 2027-2028 fiscal year. The water bureau has spent $38 million on this project during the past 10 years.