Portland Water Bureau photo

Work is ongoing at The Bull Run Filtration Project outside of Portland, Ore.

A $2.13 billion water plant is under construction in eastern Multnomah County, not far from Mount Hood and about 18 mi. east of Portland, Ore., according to Finance & Commerce.

The Bull Run Filtration Project is a joint venture of construction giant Kiewit Corp. and water plant specialist MWH Constructors. A groundbreaking occurred in early June.

The contractors have a deadline of Sept. 30, 2027, imposed on the Portland Water Bureau by the Oregon Health Authority. The water bureau is required to deliver filtered water to customers by that date as part of a settlement related to the parasite cryptosporidium being repeatedly found in Portland's water supply.

When a complementary pipelines project is included, the entire endeavor will cost $2.13 billion — possibly the costliest ongoing project in Oregon, according to Finance & Commerce.

Up to 135 million gallons per day of fresh water will be provided daily to about 1 million people by Bull Run.

In mid-September, workers installed sheet piles to build a retaining wall in one of the pools. They also finished a 175-foot-long concrete stormwater flow spreader, assembled a crane, rolled and graded the surface and prepared for additional excavation, Finance & Commerce reported.

The 93-acre site was loaded with scrapers, loaders and other equipment. Eight scrapers were working simultaneously on the excavation. About 145 local union craftspeople were working on the site, trying to finish the excavation before the start of the rainy season.

Meantime, Kodiak Pacific Construction is finalizing road upgrades. Those include utility relocations, road widening and street paving, Finance & Commerce reported. The joint-venture contractor and Stantec are working on technical coordination and planning.

There already is water infrastructure around the Cottrell area, east of Gresham. That's where the headwaters of Bull Run River and Johnson Creek descend toward Portland. The system is gravity-fed.

The project is being funded through bonds and customers' payments. The water bureau received a $726.6 million federal loan at a 1.89 percent interest rate, according to Finance & Commerce. It's also closing a second loan through the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act program, spokesman Brandon Zero said.

Water bureau officials said the treatment facility will be built to modern seismic standards.

"The facility will remain operational after an earthquake to continue delivering life-saving water," Thomas Gilman, the water bureau's facility construction manager told Finance & Commerce.

Environmental goals will be met with the use of low-carbon concrete.

Site structures will abide by a 35-ft. height limit imposed by Multnomah County. The construction site temporarily has two soil piles that may exceed that.

"We've designed the site with berms around the edges and plantings to shield the facility from view," Michelle Cheek, deputy program director of the Water Bureau, told Finance & Commerce.

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