Sewer repair workers "wading in deep poo" in North Portland

(PORTLAND TRIBUNE) -- City work crews are struggling to manage a large sewage release in North Portland that could take more than two weeks to repair.

The Bureau of Environmental Services has announced that a large pressurized underground pipe that carries sewage from a pump station to the nearby North Columbia Wastewater Treatment Plant ruptured on Thursday, March 21. By Friday afternoon, Environmental Services said the release had been “contained but not stopped.”

The pump station primarily serves businesses and residents in and around the Rivergate Industrial District. The rupture happened under the North Columbia Boulevard Bridge, initially releasing sewage on surrounding roads and into the Columbia Slough. The bridge was closed off while engineers with the Portland Bureau of Transportation worked with Environmental Services to determine if tit was structurally damaged.

A business association in the area emailed its members Friday to warn the bridge was closed and recommend detours for freight trucks.

"Initial word from structural engineers (who are wading in deep poo) is that the pressure release scoured out part of the bridge abutment. This is the primary reason for the bridge closure," wrote the Columbia Corridor Association.

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