For the March educational event, Portland Entrepreneur’s Organization members visited the East Side CSO Tunnel Project (AKA The Big Pipe). While it’s been difficult to ignore the construction on both sides of the Willamette Riverfront created by the West and East side projects, I had no idea about the scope of the Big Pipe project. In a nutshell, the combined sewer overflow project will ultimately reduce the amount of raw sewage flowing into the rivers during large rainfalls to a minimum by capturing the excessive outflow and processing it on Swan Island before releasing it. Each year, storms overburden our sewer system, resulting in raw sewage (20% of the outflow) releasing into the Willamette. For the EO event, the city and general contractor outlined the overall scope of the project, and how the West side tunnels were completed under budget and ahead of time, and how the East side looks to be on the same track currently. The innovative approach to solving this $400M business is nothing short of amazing…from the initial drilling to the massive 2,000 horsepower pumps. After a brief presentation, we took an elevator down 17 stories to the storage tank and pumps on Swan Island where the the East and West pipes merge. The scale is amazing and the photos don’t do it justice (the photo below is of the future location of the East Side pumping room). When it comes to large projects, I’m proud to be a Portlander! Another entertaining and educational EO event.