Responding to the fall rain

From ODOT-

Fall rains can lead to erosion on any construction site. For the Willamette River Bridge project, we take several steps to minimize the effects of rain throughout the construction area.

To limit erosion on bare soil like this recently completed embankment east of Interestate 5, crews applied grass seed and mulch, hastening grass growth.

On this embankment west of I-5, established grass is filtering runoff from the road and preventing erosion.

Rainwater and runoff filter through the vegetation on the embankments, and then flow into a series of bioswales that provide additional filtration before moving into local waterways.

This bioswale collects and filters water from recent rains.

In addition, rainwater that falls on the project’s work bridge must be filtered before it enters the river or local stream.

Plastic sheeting under the work bridge's wood deck captures the rainwater. Once captured, the water is piped to a nearby filtration system to remove any pollutants.

The large filtering tank processes water from the work bridge before it enters a settling pond. Then the water is discharged into the river.

These measures ensure that construction can proceed throughout the winter, because the rainfall will have minimal impact on the project site and on local waterways.