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TriMet Bus Maintenance Facility

Built as a temporary facility more than 45 years ago, the TriMet Powell Garage was in need of modernization to improve safety, increase capacity and improve employee well-being. Construction of the new bus maintenance facility included a phased rebuild of the entire 17-acre site, all while keeping it active and operational.The first phase involved building a new 24,000-square-foot, three-bay fuel and wash building, which houses a bus wash system that reclaims and treats water, allowing TriMet to recycle 300 gallons of water per minute.

The second phase more than doubled the original bus maintenance area. The facility has 22 bus maintenance bays and a new 400,000-square-foot, concrete-paved bus yard that can accommodate more than 300 buses. A second story was constructed to create more office space and staff amenities, including a new fitness center, training rooms and spacious break area. The project also added 215 surface parking spaces for employees.

It was essential to maintain uninterrupted operation of the facility amid the demolition and replacement of nearly all existing structures. JE Dunn implemented a timely and consistent communication strategy to ensure all team members understood the plan before work began.

Great care had to be taken to avoid disturbing the main fiberoptic utility feeding Portland’s 911 Call Center, which ran directly through TriMet’s site. The project team successfully relocated the fiber into an underground vault system, and then continued to work around the fiber during mass excavation, foundations and underground utilities without interrupting 911 service at any point during the four-year project.

The facility’s electrification supports TriMet’s commitment to having a 100 percent zero-emission fleet by 2040 and the upgrade allows the facility to power electric buses. New articulated buses, which can hold 60 percent more riders than the 40-foot buses, also will operate out of the site.

In addition to sustainability, employee health and well-being was a focus for TriMet. The new structure provides more opportunities to get active and encourages walking by providing catwalks and pathways around the exterior edges to the building, as well as a new exercise facility. The building also includes a covered rooftop patio and a sculpture garden to comfortably enjoy the outdoors, fresh air and relax.

Aggressive and creative efforts made by JE Dunn during the bidding process and preconstruction led to successful COBID participation on the project. During the bid packaging process prior to bid, a major focus was on how to create bid packages that were well-suited to minority and disadvantaged business enterprises in the community. This included creating smaller bid packages, as well as dividing some packages that would typically be combined, to allow for more specialized small businesses to be competitive.

It also included sit-down meetings with larger and GMP trade partners to ensure they understood participation requirements, some of whom were somewhat inexperienced with such requirements. JE Dunn introduced them to COBID firms in the community, creating relationships and turning those relationships into project partnerships.

In the end, the project achieved more than 26 percent participation by COBID firms.