OHSU - Throughout the project, traffic will keep on moving in neighborhoods and along Interstate 5
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
RYAN FRANK
So how do you thread five miles of rope over 3,400 feet through a neighborhood and across Interstate 5, a state highway and Terwilliger Boulevard?
Very carefully.
It's the city's biggest sewing project as crews began work to tie together Oregon Health & Science University to the South Waterfront district this week. Tram builder Doppelmayr CTEC will need five ropes for the job. Four will hold two tram cars aloft and one will pull the cars back and fourth.
Doppelmayr started the two-month project by building the first of seven temporary towers to carry the ropes up Gibbs Street and over the north-south streets. The towers keep traffic running while the project goes on above. "They're pretty minimalist," said Larry Beck, who lives along Gibbs Street and has lobbied against the tram because of its impact on the neighborhood.
Towers will go up first at First Street, Water and Kelley avenues, and Naito Parkway. Later, more towers will go up to carry the ropes over Terwilliger and Barbur boulevards and Corbett Avenue. A temporary bridge will stretch the ropes over Macadam Avenue and Interstate 5.
Then the real fun starts. With the towers and bridges built, Doppelmayr will slowly pull the rope uphill with winches in late August. During the five weeks it takes to lug the rope, parking along Gibbs will be closed, said Art Pearce, a city project manager. Then the towers and bridge will come down.
Doppelmayr builds trams for ski resorts in remote parts of the world. But Kevin Young, the company's Portland project manager, said this will be the first time he's strung ropes without shutting down streets below. The firm will use three crews for a total of 20 workers. Typical jobs require just one crew, Young said. Most of the workers will be flown in from Switzerland.
Eventually, the steel ropes that hold up the cars will carry 240,000 pounds of tension. Extra length in the rope, which is about two inches in diameter, will help extend each of the rope's life to about 40 years, Young said.
Construction noise has rattled some people who live along Gibbs, Beck said. He hasn't been able to park in front of his house during the day and now must look at a massive black utility pole in front of his house. "Everyone was surprised with at how big they were," Beck said.
The tram is still on its new budget at $57 million and on schedule to start moving OHSU employees by Dec. 15. A public grand opening is expected in January, said Rob Barnard, city project manager.
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It helps to get into work around 5:30. Plus, the company got me a new toy for scanning, so I thought I should try it out.
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