Substantial completion has been reached on a two-year project to provide a much-needed seismic retrofit and other upgrades to Washington County’s Charles D. Cameron Public Services Building.

The 30-year-old Hillsboro structure, home to the board of commissioners and multiple major departments, has suffered from sub-grade water intrusion issues from the outset. More recently, engineering studies revealed that the building’s structural frame and internal systems were not sufficient to withstand a major Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake.

In 2015 the county launched a plan to retrofit both the Cameron building and the nearby Washington County Law Enforcement Center, which houses the sheriff’s office, attorney’s office, and county jail. Construction began on both projects in early 2017 with JE Dunn Construction serving as construction manager/general contractor.  The project team also included SERA Architects and KPFF Consulting Engineers.

The Law Enforcement Center project was completed two weeks ahead of schedule, in September 2017, and the more extensive Cameron building received a temporary certificate of occupancy this past May. That milestone was even reached earlier than expected.

“We were two months early,” said Bassam Khalifeh, Washington County’s capital improvements project manager. “We were planning our moves for after July, but JE Dunn got done a little early.”

The $30 million project is based around the seismic retrofit of both the north and south wings of the building, which together form the shape of the letter ‘T.’

Massive concrete shear walls were constructed around each corner of the two wings of the building, eight corner shear walls in all.

Then, steel drag struts and other connections were installed inside the exterior walls of the building to tie everything together. The retrofit greatly improved the lateral load bearing capability of the entire building, allowing it to reach the “immediate occupancy” performance level in the event of a major earthquake.

“It means you have backup systems, and nothing will fall over your head,” Khalifeh said. “And of course the building stays together, so we went above and beyond the life safety many buildings are built to, even with newer buildings.”

The other major issue addressed by the project involved a groundwater mitigation system to fix a problem with recurring leaking in the basement level of the building’s north wing. Romtec Utilities was contracted to provide the four stormwater pump stations used to keep water out.

The installation of a remotely accessible building management system means that the building’s mechanical systems, fire alarms, security features, doors, lighting and more are all controlled and monitored remotely. According to Khalifeh, it’s one of the smartest buildings in Washington County.

“It talks to us,” he said. “From the mechanical system to lighting system to the pump. It sends you messages on the different issues we’ve told the system to tell us about.”

That includes the four large water pumps.

“If they get stopped and it’s not pumping it can burn up the pumps,” Khalifeh said. “So it will tell us if there is a problem, or if the pump is not working, we can go check it.”

Work on the north wing of the building was completed a year ago and normal departmental functions restored. The south wing, however, will see the gradual return of employees over the course of the summer from their temporary relocation a block away. The project should be completely finished, including ongoing tenant improvements, by this fall. An open house is tentatively planned for September.

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Scientists have long said the Pacific Northwest is overdue for a sizable earthquake, and Washington County is preparing by updating four large public buildings.

A seismic retrofit of the county’s Law Enforcement Center wrapped up in March. Currently, general contractor JE Dunn Construction is carrying out a $30 million retrofit of the adjacent Charles Cameron Public Services Building.

The latter building is also gaining a host of workspace security improvements and an overhaul of the north wing’s basement. Also, the HVAC and other mechanical systems are being updated.

“It’s not just seismic,” Washington County project manager Bassam Khalifeh said. “It’s also about solving this water intrusion issue that we’ve been dealing with since the building was constructed.”

In total, the project aims to bring the 22-year-old building up to an “immediate occupancy” seismic standard. This means the building is expected to remain standing, be safe to occupy and be repairable after a large quake. However, the standard acknowledges that mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems will likely suffer serious damage.

SERA Architects principal Becky Epstein is in charge of designing all four Washington County retrofits. Many different techniques can be used to reinforce buildings seismically, and various levels of protection can be attained, she said.

“There are concrete shear walls, steel shear walls, brace frames, buckling-restrained brace frames – a whole bunch of things you can do that, depending on your building, will work,” she said.

Engineering studies indicated that the Public Services Building’s structural frame and internal components would fail in a sizable seismic event. And because county officials wanted a retrofit that would impact the building’s exterior appearance as little as possible, Epstein said, a final design was chosen that would involve placing a formidable series of concrete shear walls on each of the building’s corners. Each shear wall would then be tied into the building’s framework with a robust series of drag struts and other steel connectors.

Not only did this type of exterior-based solution allow the building to be used during construction, it eliminated the need to drill through and possibly compromise any of the post-tensioned concrete slabs.

“It just limits the amount of mechanical systems that are disrupted and how much ceiling you have to take down,” KPFF Consulting Engineers principal Mark Tobin said. “It really minimized how much other stuff was impacted with the structural elements, and it kept the new foundation on the outside of the building, as we were digging down anyway for the water issue. It was great not to have to cut through the basement slab.”

Plus, this solution minimized any changes to the building’s appearance.

“It looks like it was part of the building originally,” Epstein said. “And that was a concern of the commissioners.”

The method also allowed the county to fix the water intrusion issue in the building’s foundation at the same time.

“By putting those concrete frames or shear walls on the outside of the building, we had to pull away the dirt to waterproof the building, so it was a two-for-one,” Epstein said.

At the job site in Hillsboro, Khalifeh explained how the project is being completed in two phases in order to allow the county to continue to use at least one of the two building wings at all times.

Currently, work on the larger north wing is approaching its final stages as contractors refurbish the interior. The new reinforced concrete shear walls are evident at each building corner.

The former front lawn is now a gaping pit on either side of the main walkway leading to the entrance. At the bottom sits a pair of new water pumps designed to remove groundwater and prevent it from infiltrating the basement as in the past.

“We wanted to get the water away from the building, so we excavated all the way down and added windows in the basement,” Khalifeh said. “So what you see outside, that’s what it’s going to be – the de-watering wells, or pumping stations, in four locations and one inside the building.”

The water intrusion issue could be addressed via the engineering solutions proposed for the seismic retrofit, Tobin said.

“There was some synergy between those two efforts,” he said. “We had to dig down, and they had to be at the basement level anyway. You can’t put a basement wall at ground level, so we had to dig down to get to the bottom of the slab to put in our footings and realized, ‘Hey, we’re getting a twofer here.’ That was a nice little bonus for the project.”

As the work progressed, Tobin added, the resulting shear walls added to the building’s aesthetic.

“I think the unique aspect on this one is they’ve left the shear walls exposed,” he said. “You see it from the outside and you can tell something was done, and it was robust and intentional. A lot of times when we do retrofits the architect’s goal is to hide it somewhere. … This was a little unique in that by placing it outside the building and making it concrete, it ties into other elements.”

Crews are expected to complete the retrofit of the Public Services Building later this year.

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and general contractor are currently carrying out a $30 million seismic retrofit and renovation of the county’s Charles Cameron Public Services Building in downtown Hillsboro. Other project team members include Portland’s and .

In addition to an extensive retrofit to bring the building up to an “immediate occupancy” standard in the event of a serious earthquake, a new system of groundwater pumps is being installed on the grounds to protect against the water intrusion that has long plagued the structure.

This photo gallery shows off some of the work being done, both inside and out. And in this 91��Ƶ video, county project manager Bassam Khalifeh talks about the project.

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