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Water Storage Improvement Projects
Access to clean water is vital to our community.
EWEB is hard at work making sure safe, reliable water continues to flow even as critical infrastructure ages and new challenges arise. In the next decade, we plan to construct new water storage facilities near 40th Ave. and Donald St. and replace the water storage systems at EWEB's College Hill and Hawkins Hill sites. The projects will be built to seismic and contemporary operating standards, providing more than 40 million gallons of resilient, safe water storage.
August 24, 2021

Dear East 40th Neighbors,
This is just a short update to keep you informed of current and upcoming activities at the site. We have also included some recent photos.
What's happening at the site?

Site preparation activities continue this week (8/23-8/27) including stump removal, hauling wood materials, and ­­other work to prepare the site for excavation.

Additional excavation equipment will arrive next week.

For the next 6-8 weeks, crews will be working on removing topsoil. Approximately 15 feet of soil will be removed and hauled off-site, in preparation for controlled drilling and blasting.

In addition to excavation equipment noise, there will be dump trucks coming and going, using the Hilyard Street route.

Reminders about controlled blasting and inspections

Once the soil is removed, controlled drilling and blasting will be used to loosen and fragment in-place rock materials to a size that can be removed, transported, or crushed.

During the next few weeks, the contractor will submit to EWEB a blasting safety plan, vibration monitoring plan, and work schedule. The plans and work schedule will be shared with neighbors and posted on our website.

Pre-blast inspections of structures and privately-owned residences will be offered to neighbors within 500 feet of the areas to be blasted.

The purpose of the inspection is to document the condition of structures, foundations, and windows prior to exposure to potential vibration from blasting.

EWEB will work with the contractor to contact property owners to schedule pre-blast inspections. There is no charge to the property owner and inspections are optional, but highly encouraged.

The blasting contractor will attend the next neighbor meeting (tentative mid-Sept.) to provide information about anticipated drilling and blasting operations and answer questions about the blasting process, safety plan, schedule, and pre-blast inspections.
 
Reminders regarding general construction impacts
 
  • Workers, trucks, and equipment will generally begin arriving on-site around 7 a.m.
  • We will only do work during hours that the City of Eugene noise ordinance allows and we will communicate work hours as the work progresses.
  • Truck noise such as beeping is not easily mitigated as that is an OSHA-required safety feature and needs to be loud enough for someone to hear while wearing hearing protection. When possible, trucks will be routed around the site to avoid the need to back up.

At the next neighbor meeting, we will discuss construction details and mitigation for the excavation phase of the project, including:

  • Work hours and workdays
  • Noisy work time
  • Construction schedule
  • Construction mitigation
  • Dust
  • Noise
  • Contractor staging and parking
  • Traffic control on Patterson
  • Controlled drilling and blasting process and safety procedures
  • What to do if there are issues 

While we can’t anticipate or mitigate all impacts, we will be responsive to your questions, suggestions, or concerns. Please reach out to us directly so that we can quickly address any issues that arise by email at water.storage@eweb.org or by phone at 541-685-7899.
Oak woodland on the west side of the site, after tree removal. The site design situates the tanks in a way that minimizes impact to this grove of Oregon White Oak, a native species that was once common across the Willamette Valley but becoming increasingly rare.
View of the ridgeline looking north, after tree removal.
Site clean-up and preparation work on 8/24/21, looking south and east. The trees pictured here will remain, with the exception of some selective thinning during the restoration phase of work.
Contact us with questions
If you have questions or input, please don’t hesitate to reach out to the project team at
541-685-7899 or water.storage@eweb.org. Emails sent to this address will reach:

  • Laura Farthing, Project Manager/Senior Civil Engineer
  • Jen Connors, Communications Supervisor
  • Jeannine Parisi, Customer Relationship Manager
  • Wally McCullough, Water Engineering Supervisor