Pacific Northwest 7, April 7, 2024

Advanced Excavation Makes Repairs After Oregon Collapse

By Lori Tobias CEG CORRESPONDENT

Four months after heavy Oregon rains washed out a coastal road, Sandlake Road is open to one lane and engineers are considering the best of two permanent repairs. A 175-ft. section of road connecting the destination town of Pacific City and residential village north of Tierra Del Mar slipped from the headlands the first week of December.

“There was just a lot of ground saturation and the hillside just collapsed on itself,” said Chris Laity, Tillamook County public works director. “There was stack of soil and that was on top of sandstone, so it had a hard layer. As the water would seep its way down through the soil, it would hit sandstone. The water sliding across it caused a slip plane and that caused the road to fail.”

While the road is not heavily traveled, it is the route residents in Tierra Del Mar take to do business in Pacific City, including picking up mail at the United States Post Office. While one lane remained intact, Laity and experts didn’t trust it to hold, so they barricaded off the existing lane. That meant a normally 10-min. drive from Tierra Del Mar to Pacific City suddenly became one of 45 minutes and that grew old fast. So, some took matters in their own hands.

“People moved barricades,” Laity said. “They cut chains, cut the cables. It was a little bit of a fight on that one.”

By February, Geostabilization International, headquartered in Colorado, moved in with specialized equipment to build a soil nail wall. Advanced Excavation, based out of Garibaldi, Ore., is serving as the general contractor.

“You have rods that are drilled into the soil, about 30 feet in and they’re about one inch in diameter,” Laity said. “There’s about 200 of them and once they are drilled into the soil, there’s a thick welded wire mesh that goes over the top of the nails and then it’s basically a ginormous washer with a bolt that is screwed onto the nails. You’ve got the wire mesh and all the nails supporting the weight of the soil and then it's all shotcrete. They spray concrete on it and that seals

Advanced Excavation photo

Officials are contemplating the best solution after a 175-ft. section of road in Tillamook, Ore., connecting the destination town of Pacific City and residential village north of Tierra Del Mar, slipped from the headlands.

up everything from corrosion.”

Now that one lane of Sandlake Road is open to traffic, Laity and county and state officials must decide on the best permanent repair.

One option is the placement of a mechanically stabilized vertical wall, while the other is a slope. Both involve the layering of geogrid and soil and both are considered stable and good options, but there are differences, Laity said.

ODOT photo

One option is the placement of a mechanically stabilized vertical wall, while the other is a slope. Both involve the layering of geogrid and soil and both are considered stable and good options. see OREGON page 6

Feenaughty Machinery Adds Third DEVELON Location

For more than 100 years and across five generations, Feenaughty Machinery has consistently delivered exceptional service to its customers. Now the company is celebrating the opening of its third location: a store in Woodinville, Wash.

Based in Portland, Ore., Feenaughty Machinery has always catered to customers as far north as Seattle. With the addition of the new store, customers in and around the

Seattle markets can anticipate enhanced sales, parts and service support from a local dealership, the compant said.

The newest Feenaughty Machinery dealership is located at 6020 234th Street SE, Woodinville. The Woodinville location is authorized to sell DEVELON articulated dump trucks, wheel loaders, log loaders, dozers, and crawler, wheel and mini-excavators.

“We’re pleased to enhance our dealer support to customers in the Pacific Northwest with the addition of the Feenaughty Machinery location near Seattle,” said Todd Roecker, vice president of growth initiatives, at DEVELON. “This region has traditionally been very strong for DEVELON products, particularly log loaders, and we plan to grow our presence in the region with the help of Feenaughty Machinery and its employees.”

Feenaughty Machinery, DEVELON

In 2011, Feenaughty Machinery expanded its offerings by adding the Doosan (now DEVELON) line of heavy construction equipment, broadening its range of products to better serve the needs of its customers.

“Initially, the log loaders are what drew us toward the brand,” said Brendan Green, general manager, Feenaughty Machinery. “The quality of the log loaders stood out. That was the driving force at the time. As everything else followed, we started to real-

ize, ‘Wow. These are really good products.’”

The company operates a location in Eugene, Ore., which opened in 2016. Recently, the company completed construction on a drive-through steel shop equipped with bridge cranes.

All three Feenaughty Machinery dealerships are conveniently located near the DEVELON parts distribution center in Lacey, Wash.

“When we’re able to tell customers about two DEVELON parts distribution centers and one is an hour down the road, it gives customers more confidence in what they’re buying,” Green said.

He said the new DEVELON standard factory warranty also is important to the company’s continued success.

“When we can tell customers we offer a three-year, 5,000hour warranty, that goes a long way. It says, ‘We stand behind these products.’”

Feenaughty Machinery and its employees appreciate DEVELON and its commitment to manufacturing the right products to help dealers win business.

“They send engineers out to look at products and get customer feedback, and they listen and make the changes,” Green said. “I really appreciate it because it’s also how we run our business. We’re always listening, always pushing and trying to do things a different way. My favorite part of doing business with DEVELON is the company’s flexibility and responsiveness to market demand.”

Feenaughty’s Portland branch is located at 4800 NE Columbia Blvd, Portland, OR 97218; the Eugene branch is located at 90404 Hwy 99 N, Eugene, OR 97402. 

I-5 Rose Quarter Project Receives $450M Boost, Approval

On the heels of a significant $450 million federal grant, the I-5 Rose Quarter Improvement Project reached another major milestone that moves the project closer to being ready for construction.

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) granted its environmental review approval for ODOT’s I-5 Rose Quarter Improvement Project. This means ODOT has federal approval to proceed with the project and can continue moving forward with more detailed project design.

“This federal environmental decision paired with substantial funding highlights the alignment of supporters who want to see this project built. ODOT is honored to continue working with the community and our partners” said Project Director Megan Channell. “We are excited to move forward with this much needed investment in Oregon’s future.”

Hamilton/Sundt, a joint venture (HSJV), in association with Raimore Construction, is the project’s construction manager/general contractor (CM/GC), according to the project’s website.

ODOT is working with the community, the city of Portland and other partners to seek funding opportunities and ready the

project for construction.

“It wasn’t long ago that some project partners and community members pulled back from the project because of disagreements with the design,” Channell said. “We have worked hard to incorporate the perspective of our partners and community, and we believe we now have the right project for this region and this moment. Fifteen of our partners at the federal, state, regional, local and community level agree, signing on to a recent federal grant application to support the project. We are encouraged to see the collective support this project is now receiving.”

“The Albina Vision Trust is overjoyed to celebrate this victory alongside our partners at the Oregon Department of Transportation,” said Albina Vision Trust Executive Director Winta Yohannes of the approval. “We are also deeply appreciative of the brilliant leadership of our federal delegation, the U.S. Department of Transportation and Federal Highway Administration. Together, we will continue to fight to ensure that the Portland of tomorrow is a Portland for all.”

“The I-5 Rose Quarter Project has come a long way,” said Millicent Williams, direc-

tor of the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT). “Thanks to the deep involvement of local community stakeholders serving on the Historic Albina Advisory Board, the leadership of the Albina Vision Trust and the work of PBOT staff, this project has gone from exacerbating past harms to an effort that can help repair and restore a community.”

The project design approved by FHWA is the result of hard work to center the voices of Black Portlanders. The project seeks to support the restoration of the historic Albina community, which was severed by the original construction of I-5. The project also includes solutions to address one of the worst highway bottlenecks in the country and improvements that will make walking, biking and rolling safer.

In response to this new design dubbed the Hybrid 3 cover option, the FHWA rescinded the 2020 FONSI due to the design changes requiring further analysis. The Hybrid 3 cover option became the project described in the Supplemental Environmental Assessment (SEA) document, published in 2022. In response to public feedback on the updated project proposed in the SEA, ODOT made additional

design refinements to the project that further improved safety for people walking, biking and rolling while maximizing development potential and maintaining event access. This can be found in the newly published 2024 Revised Supplemental Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact on our website’s project library.

The project now features a single, larger and more substantial highway cover capable of supporting development on top. It also reconnects and improves local streets and adds better pedestrian, bicycle and ADA facilities (including a dedicated pedestrian/bike-only bridge over I-5). Improvements to the I-5 mainline highway include wider shoulders to support faster emergency response times as responders use wider shoulders to move through traffic. We will also construct auxiliary lanes to improve traffic flow and safety, relocate the southbound off-ramp from Vancouver/Broadway to the south near the Moda Center to support redevelopment opportunities and construct a new “flyover” structure to direct the 60 percent of I-5 offramp traffic headed east of I-5 out of the Rose Quarter district. 

Feenaughty Machinery photo The new location is authorized to sell DEVELON heavy construction equipment and mini-excavators to a variety of industries serving the greater Seattle area

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Oregon Ranks Fourth in U.S. for Transportation Funding

Oregon is ranked 4th in the nation for transportation policies and funding that improve equity, public health and climate change outcomes, according to a report published by the Natural Resources Defense Council.

The report assessed states on several metrics to create a final scorecard ranking out of 100 possible points. The metrics included state planning for climate and equity, vehicle electrification, expansion of transportation choices, system maintenance and procurement.

“We’re proud of our ranking and what we’ve accomplished so far with our federal and state partners,” said Susan Peithman, ODOT climate office interim director. “There is much more work to be done and we’ll keep pushing to realize our vision of a clean, safe and equitable transportation system.”

The report’s authors cite the recent historic federal investments in transportation infrastructure for spurring their interest in state transportation policy and spending.

In 2021, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law allocated $1.2 billion in additional transportation funding for Oregon over the next few years. About $800 million of that funding is directed to specific purposes.

The remaining $412 million is flexible

funding. Last year, the Oregon Transportation Commission directed the flexible funding be spent in ways that will make Oregon’s roads, streets and walkways safer and easier to use.

In 2021, the commission approved $255 million in federal funding for active and public transportation for ODOT's 2024-27 budget cycle. The nearly $100 million increase from the previous cycle doubled funding for these modes.

Both investment decisions contributed to Oregon’s high ranking in the report.

Outside of federal funding decisions, ODOT and partners are continuing work to reduce emissions from transportation by cleaning up each mile driven, and reducing how often and how far people drive.

Oregon is projected to make the strongest progress in cleaning up each mile driven. Recent regulations on emissions from cars, trucks and SUVs — and a shift to electric

vehicles — will yield the biggest reduction. Reducing how far and how often people drive has the most room for improvement. Oregon can make progress here by investing in active modes like walking, rolling and biking; improving transit services; pricing the transportation system; and enacting land use policies to support shorter trips.

ODOT is tracking its emissions reduction progress on its transportation emissions website. Its data says by 2050, emissions from transportation will be 60 percent lower than they were in 1990. 

(Photo courtesy of Oregon Department of Transporation.)

Top 10 States

California, 87 points Massachusetts, 69 points Vermont, 68 points Oregon, 64 points Washington, 63 points New York, 61 points Colorado, 57 points New Jersey, 53 points Connecticut, 53 points Minnesota, 53 points

Officials Deciding Between Mechanical Wall or Slope Fix

OREGON from page 1

“The technology is pretty much the same,” she said. “But the base of the wall, because it’s vertical, there are some additional things that must be done to keep that vertical. So, the difference between the two is a wall is built in 100 percent of the right-ofway. The slope would go beyond the county right-of-way into state park’s property.”

Because the slope would encroach on state parks land, for which the state has received federal funding, it would involve state and federal government approval. Another difference is the cost — approximately $1 million. The wall could be built at a cost of about $2.8 million, while the cost of the slope is estimated to be about $1.8 million. The wall comes at a higher cost because construction methods are more complicated, more equipment is needed and it’s more challenging and time-consuming to build, Laity said.

“I think everybody all across the board would say the slope is better,” she said. “They’re both stable, but long term when you start going out 70 years ... walls are susceptible to failure where with the slope, there is not much there to fail. With a slope, you take a bulldozer out there and spread all kinds of materials. Another layer of grid, 12 more inches of material ... What that does is the grid lets the rocks interlock together. The whole thing, basically, becomes a homogenous material, it’s all interlocked. It’s just going to be a better solution, more natural. You can plant on a slope; you can’t plant on a wall and its better aesthetics from the beach and that’s important to people.”

Laity hopes to see the final repair in place sometime in 2025. 

“There was just

The metrics included state planning for climate and equity, vehicle electrification, expansion of transportation choices, system maintenance and procurement.

a lot of ground saturation and the hillside just collapsed on itself,” said Chris Laity, Tillamook County public works director.

SAKAI Expands in Idaho With Double Edge Equpiment

SAKAI America Inc. has expanded distribution in the Rocky Mountains with Double Edge Equipment as the official asphalt roller and soil compactor dealer of Idaho and Montana.

“The Idaho market has grown prodigiously in recent years with the popularity of remote working combined with affordable living and beautiful landscapes. With that growth has come large demand for infrastructure to support it. Supporting infrastructure such as roads, bridges and site work is where our asphalt rollers and soil compactors shine,” said Brad Belvin, manager of sales and marketing of SAKAI America.

“Double Edge Equipment is ideally positioned to support Idaho contractors as well as those nearby in Montana. They have a proven knack for equipment rental, which is a rapidly growing customer preference, but are equally well set up for new machine sales and service. We look forward this new partnership to serve asphalt paving and sitework contractors in these previously underserved states.”

“We’ve had experience with SAKAI rollers in the past in our used machine fleet and were always impressed with their durability and simplicity,” said Caleb Colborn, owner, Double Edge Equipment.

“Now offering new SAKAI equipment and becoming the servicing dealer will give us an edge on our mission: to provide value and service that our customers can depend on and trust.”

SAKAI rollers are available to order through Double Edge Equipment immediately.

For more information, visit www.DoubleEdgeEquipment.com and www.SakaiAmerica.com. 

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