Public assets - A report says that in 2007 the city spent $112 million less than needed for maintenance
BY ANDY DWORKIN
Before crews started building the downtown Portland bus mall, the city sewer bureau checked its pipes to see if any needed work while the streets were cracked open. Everything seemed fine.
But sewage started to leak from some pipes months later. Vibrations from the heavy machinery and construction may be stressing the clay pipes, many a century old, that run toward the river, bureau official Susan Aldrich said.
One pipe, parallel to the MAX tracks by Pioneer Courthouse Square, is likely to break in the next five years and wash out part of Southwest Morrison Street, engineers say. That could open a hole in the street and threaten pedestrians, drivers and MAX riders.
So the bureau is preparing to contract for about $5 million in repairs on those old pipes, Aldrich said, aiming to limit further downtown disruptions by lining as many pipes from the inside as possible.
The unexpected sewer work is just one example of the crumbling network of streets, pipes, parks and buildings that Portland is struggling -- and sometimes failing -- to maintain. In 2007, Portland spent at least $112 million less than needed to keep its infrastructure in decent shape, according to a new report that city asset managers will present to the City Council this afternoon.
A longstanding inability to keep up public assets has widespread impacts on Portland's budget and livability...[Read the rest at OregonLive.com [1]]