City of Bend gets moving on projects to update, upgrade Awbrey Butte-area water system
$28.6 million project will extend, replace aging and small pipes
(Update: Adding video, comments from city project's engineer)
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) – Several improvements for northwest Bend’s water distribution system are on the way with the Awbrey Butte Waterline Improvement Project over the next few years, to replace and extend aging or too-small water pipelines serving the area.
“It identifies some of the big items we need to address soon," Senior Project Engineer Jake Sherman said Monday.
Not one or two, but eight interrelated water improvement projects are planned in the area of Awbrey Butte, phased over a two-year period, to boost capacity, replace aging and small water pipes, and ensure adequate firefighting flows in the area.
The city published a legal notice Sunday with a request for proposals for design and construction of the Awbrey Butte Water Distribution Improvements Project. The submission deadline is May 5, and the city is holding a pre-proposal meeting on Zoom for interested parties on April 12.
The city council recently adopted a five-year capital improvement program that includes the $28.6 million project, funded by water rates.
It is scheduled to begin in the spring of 2023 and take two years to complete.
The Awbrey Transmission line is one of the bigger sub-projects, which includes more than 9,000 feet of new 30-inch water pipe along Shevlin Park Road, a utility right of way and along Trenton Avenue, from Mt. Washington Drive to the city’s Awbrey Reservoir.
The city also will replace 2,260 feet of existing 24-inch water pipe along Ninth Street, between Newport Avenue and the reservoir, and replace or upsize 3,500 feet of pipe along portions of Portland Avenue, between Ninth and Wall streets.
"So right now, we’re actually in the selection phase," Sherman said, "Just this morning, we actually posted a request for proposals. That's for contractors and engineers that will team together to come and design, and construct this project.”
After the Bend City Council's approval of an updated water system master plan, the Awbrey Butte Waterline Improvement Project is the first big project in the works. The plan includes a number of projects around the city over the next 20 years.
