Portland’s Big Pipe is full again. Here’s how the system works

Published on: 03/12/2026

This news was posted by Oregon Today News

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On May 3, 2004, tunnel-boring machine operator Jerry Roberge makes his way down the north tunnel of the West Side Big Pipe project in Portland before the start of his shift. A construction crew member is raised from the Nicolai Shaft in Portland in 2003 as work continues on the West Side Big Pipe, which began in December 2002 and was scheduled to continue through summer 2006. In 2007, Greg Colzani, tunnel manager with Jacobs Associates, stands about 120 feet underground at the Alder site of the East Side Big Pipe, near Southeast Third Avenue and Alder Street in Portland. The project was under way to carry stormwater and sewage and prevent overflows into the Willamette River. In 2010, a tunnel-boring machine manufactured in Germany is christened at a west-side construction site for an 8,500-foot pipeline that would carry combined sewage and stormwater runoff to the West Side Big Pipe and then to the Columbia Boulevard Wastewater Treatment Plant. Construction of the pipeline was scheduled to be completed by December 2011. In 2004, Bureau of Environmental Services Director Dean Marriott, right, gives Mayor-elect Tom Potter a tour of the West Side Big Pipe project in Portland. In 2010, the East Side CSO Tunnel Project reaches a milestone as the tunnel-boring machine arrives at the McLoughlin Shaft, ending tunneling on the 22-foot-diameter, 6-mile-long tunnel. The project was ahead of schedule at the time. On Nov. 9, 2010, a train carrying workers travels down tunnel tracks toward the tunnel-boring machine. The East Side CSO Tunnel Project reached a milestone that day as the machine arrived at the McLoughlin Shaft, ending tunneling on the 22-foot-diameter, 6-mile-long tunnel ahead of schedule. The Opera Shaft, the entrance to the East Side Big Pipe tunnel, is shown in Portland in 2008. The shaft is 67 feet wide and 115 feet deep, the largest of the seven shafts along the tunnel alignment. In 2006, City Commissioner Sam Adams and Mayor Tom Potter, right, tour the Swan Island Pump Station shortly after the West Side Big Pipe was put into use. Construction continues at the Swan Island Pump Station in Portland in 2004 as part of the city’s West Side Big Pipe project, which had been slowed by heavy groundwater and was then proceeding with two 10-hour shifts a day. On Nov. 9, 2010, the view looks north into the East Side Big Pipe tunnel from the Opera Shaft. The East Side CSO Tunnel Project reached a milestone that day as the tunneling machine arrived at the McLoughlin Shaft, ending tunneling on the 22-foot-diameter, 6-mile-long tunnel ahead of schedule. In 2007, a rail car system carries workers and supplies 120 feet underground at the Alder site of the East Side Big Pipe, near Southeast Third Avenue and Alder Street, during a project tour. The system was used during construction and was removed once the pipe became operational. All we need is A Big Pipe construction site lines Southwest Harbor Way in Portland in 2003, looking west. On Nov. 9, 2010, a train used to carry workers travels along the tunnel tracks toward the tunneling machine during the final phase of the East Side CSO Tunnel Project. The machine had reached the McLoughlin Shaft, ending tunneling on the 22-foot-diameter, 6-mile-long tunnel, which was ahead of schedule at the time. On Feb. 19, 2004, thousands of precast concrete tunnel liner segments are stacked and waiting for use in Portland’s Big Pipe sewer project. Each segment weighs about 5,000 pounds and would form part of a tunnel built about 110 feet below the surface, including sections running beneath the Willamette River. On Nov. 17, 2008, the view looks north through the East Side Big Pipe tunnel from the bottom of the Opera Shaft in Portland. On Nov. 9, 2010, workers emerge through the face of the tunnel-boring machine as daylight streams in from the McLoughlin Shaft. The moment marked the end of tunneling on the East Side CSO Tunnel Project, a 22-foot-diameter, 6-mile-long tunnel, which was ahead of schedule at the time. In 2007, a progress tour of the East Side Big Pipe stops at the Opera Shaft, about 115 feet underground near the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. During construction, a rail car system brought workers and supplies into the tunnel and was removed once the pipe became operational. On Oct. 30, 2009, the East Side Big Pipe tunnel-boring machine emerges from the Port Center Way Shaft on Swan Island after completing its dig from the Opera Shaft near the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. The machine began tunneling in June 2007, and its 460-ton main section was slated to be barged back to the Opera Shaft site. In 2007, Portland City Commissioner Sam Adams looks over tunneling operations about 120 feet underground near Southeast Third Avenue and Alder Street during a tour of the Alder site of the East Side Big Pipe. The project was under way to carry stormwater and sewage and prevent overflows into the Willamette River. On Feb. 19, 2004, workers climb the stairs to the surface from the 110-foot-deep Nicolai Shaft, part of Portland’s Big Pipe sewer project. The shaft is 70 feet in diameter. On Feb. 19, 2004, the view looks down the Nicolai Shaft, approximately 70 feet in diameter and 110 feet deep, leading to Portland’s Big Pipe sewer system near Northwest Front Avenue. In 2005, Adolfo Davila pressure-washes the cutterhead of Clark, the tunnel-boring machine used in Portland’s Big Pipe sewer project, after it completed about 10,000 feet of tunneling beneath city streets. Clark was slated to be taken to Vancouver, Washington, for refinishing after its work was finished. In 2007, Portland Police Chief Rosie Sizer tosses a bottle of champagne at the East Side Big Pipe tunnel-boring machine during a naming ceremony. The cutterhead was also named Rosie and was used to build the 6-mile, 22-foot-diameter East Side Big Pipe. In 2007, the Opera Shaft is shown near the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry during a tour of the East Side Big Pipe. The shaft drops about 115 feet underground and was part of the project to carry stormwater and sewage and prevent overflows into the Willamette River. On July 11, 2005, Steven Fischer hoses wet grout from the floor of the 16-foot-diameter Big Pipe sewer line. Pipefitters, engineers and other workers watch as Lewis, the tunnel-boring machine, breaks through the wall at the Swan Island Pump Station in Portland in 2004, marking a milestone in construction of the West Side Big Pipe.

Portland’s Big Pipe hit 100% capacity at about 6:26 a.m. Thursday. That does not mean the system failed. It means the city’s giant underground overflow tunnels filled up during heavy rain, leaving no more room to store the extra mix of stormwater and sewage flowing through Portland’s older combined sewer system. Once that happens, overflow can occur.

News Source : https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2026/03/portlands-big-pipe-is-full-again-heres-how-the-system-works.html

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