November 2009
City of Portland celebrates Native American Heritage Month - 11/4/09
Pressure line break releases sewage to north Portland wetland - 11/5/09
North Expo Road closed for sewer repairs - 11/6/09
Tunnel boring machine to be removed from the East Side Big Pipe - 11/30/09
November 4, 2009
City of Portland celebrates Native American Heritage Month
The City of Portland is sponsoring several events in November to celebrate Native American Heritage Month. All activities are free and open to the public, and will take place in the Portland Building, 1120 SW 5th Avenue, 2nd floor.
Brown Bag Presentations
Noon – 1:00 p.m., Auditorium
Thursday, November 5
Solomon Trimble - “Spoken Word Performance”
Thursday, November 12
Judy Bluehorse Skelton - “Native Plants and their Enduring Role in Sustaining Healthy Communities”
Wednesday, November 18
Bob Miller - “American Indian Nations and Oregon”
Tuesday, November 24
Richard Twiss, “Unity is Impossible in the Absence of Diversity”
Monday, November 30
Dr. Cornel Pewewardy - “Native American Mascots and the Spectacle of American Sports Culture”
Marketplace - Native American Artisans
Thursday, November 19
10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m., Room C
Handcrafted jewelry , calendars, photos, cards and stationery, dream catchers, rawhide drums, cradle boards, music, traditional leather dolls, baskets, organic remedies, skin care products and gifts, jewelry, organic skin care and specialty gifts, leather crafts, woven baskets, dolls
Go to www.portlandonline.com/bes/NativeAmericanCelebrations for more information.
Pressure line break releases sewage to north Portland wetland
November 5, 2009
A drilling contractor doing geotechnical borings struck a 30-inch sewer main this morning at about 9:30 on North Expo Road near the Portland Expo Center. The resulting sewage release undermined the roadway. North Expo Road is temporarily closed. Emergency road repairs are scheduled to begin tomorrow morning.
The broken pressure line released an estimated 27,000 gallons of sewage into the wetland area south of the Expo Center. The city is developing a plan to clean up the spilled sewage and mitigate impacts to the wetland.
North Expo Road closed for sewer repairs
November 6, 2009
An emergency sewer repair project has closed N Expo Road just west of Interstate 5. Traffic taking the Portland Expo Center exit from I-5 north is being detoured off N Expo Road to N Broadacre to reach the Expo Center. Drivers on I-5 northbound can also reach the Expo Center by taking the Marine Drive West exit. I-5 southbound traffic to the Expo Center is unaffected. The city currently has no estimate on when repairs will be complete or when N Expo Road will re-open.
A geotechnical drilling crew accidentally punctured the 30-inch Inverness Pressure Sewer yesterday morning, and the sewage release undermined N Expo Road. An estimated 27,000 gallons of sewage flowed into the adjacent Vanport Wetlands, a natural area managed by the Port of Portland. There was no impact to nearby waterways and there is no public exposure to the spill.
Tunnel boring machine to be removed from the East Side Big Pipe
November 30, 2009
Rosie, the East Side Big Pipe tunnel boring machine (TBM) completed constructing four miles of tunnel on October 30, and will be brought to the surface tomorrow (Tuesday, December 1, 2009). Rosie will be refurbished and prepared for construction of the final segment of the 6-mile long, 22-foot diameter tunnel.
A 700-ton crane will lift Rosie’s 460-ton main section out of the 100-foot deep Port Center Way tunnel shaft. The TBM is tentatively due to reach the surface at about 3:00 p.m. tomorrow.
The East Side Big Pipe is the largest construction project in Portland’s 20-year program to control combined sewer overflows (CSOs). The city will activate the tunnel in 2011 to control CSOs from the east side of the Willamette River.
For more information, contact Linc Mann at 503-823-5328.