Over 5 months, our project team prioritized scheduling for completion of topographic surveying of the Hillsdale Northwest Sewer Project for the City of Portland. After establishing control and finding/confirming project benchmarks, we performed limited topographic surveying for 37 sites, and full topographic surveying for an additional 14 sites. Other tasks included resolving Right of Way for 23 locations, locating numerous property corners, and collecting finish floor elevations including the radio and water towers located in the neighborhood. Due to the large amount of project data, GIS use was incorporated into our mapping workflow, allowing for faster data segmenting. Westlake completed this project on-time and significantly under budget.

Communication between the City and our survey team was key to this project due to the multiple “pocket sites” we surveyed within the neighborhood. Much of the current infrastructure is between 100 and 200 years old, and when built, pipe runs were generally constructed using the shortest, easiest route to the Willamette River for discharge. In the Hillsdale neighborhood, this resulted in many of the existing sewer lines crossing through homeowners’ yards. Our survey team had the opportunity to answer questions from residents interested in learning about aspects of surveying work and share information about the overall project goals.

The Hillsdale Northwest project will repair or replace 8,313 feet of dated public sewer pipe infrastructure. These repairs and new lines will reduce the possibility of sewage release, helping to protect both the public and the local environment. The Hillsdale Northwest project is part of a larger capital improvement effort to revitalize sewer infrastructure in the Hillsdale and Multnomah neighborhoods. Two other large scale projects are currently in the design stages: Hillsdale North Sewer and Hillsdale Middle. An additional rehabilitation project, Hillsdale South, finished construction in January 2021.

The Hillsdale district is a 2 square mile neighborhood in Southwest Portland that is home to retail and business areas, The Hillsdale Farmer’s Market, and Oregon’s first brewpub (McMenamins Hillsdale Brewery, opened in 1985).

Construction is currently expected to begin Winter 2023 and will take a year to complete.