By Elizabeth Tertadian
The trail behind Kenna Hall, officially called the Waud Bluff Trail, has reopened after being closed due to safety concerns in December.
The problem started when workers hit unexpected rock while tunneling 120 feet under Willamette Boulevard to complete the final stage of a 10-year-long city sewer project called The Big Pipe Project.
Busting drill bits and delaying progress, the unexpected rock wall caused problems to workers who anticipated sand.
During the tunneling process, a "chimney" was created, resulting in a giant hole in the side of The Bluff.
Opposite of a sinkhole, a chimney occurs when debris comes up from the ground. Concerned about safety, the City closed the trail to the public on Dec. 1.
Over winter break, work crews set up trucks and equipment behind Kenna to resolve the problem.
A truck filled the chimney hole from the top with rock by catapulting the rock directly into the hole.
The chimney was fixed the Friday before students came back from winter break.
After laying down around 20 bales of hay, the excess amount of mud was absorbed, making it more walker-friendly.
"They did a beautiful job," said James Kuffner, assistant vice president for Human Resources. "It literally threw the rock right on target - I wish I could be that accurate!"
UP offered to send out a community-wide e-mail notice about the trail after students returned from winter break, but the City said it was unnecessary.
"It's open, but not very passable," Kuffner said about the trail.
UP River Campus
acquires dirt
As drilling of the tunnel continues, UP is capitalizing on the opportunity to obtain any clean dirt the crew excavates.
According to Kuffner, trucks will be delivering an anticipated 25,000 to 35,000 cubic feet of tested clean dirt to UP's lower River Campus, where it will be used to sculpt the recently-acquired land so it can be ready when the University is ready to build on it.
An estimated 15 trucks will pass through campus on a daily basis, delivering dirt to the riverfront property below The Bluff.
Keeping with safety, these trucks will be traveling only five miles per hour, and work only during the day.
Although improvements on the trail are not completed, and UP construction on the waterfront is years away, Kuffner is looking forward to the expansion of the campus.
"It's exciting to not just be on The Bluff, but below it too," Kuffner said. "We'll be getting our feet wet."
The University is considering moving Physical Plant, creating a track, and moving the baseball field to the River Campus, Kuffner said.
Vision for the Waud Bluff Trail
The tunneling is a minor setback to activists and trail users who await the trail's extension to include a paved pathway and a pedestrian bridge over the Union Pacific railroad tracks to Swan Island.
Presently, the only paved way to Swan Island is Going Street. Many workers already utilize the Waud Bluff Trail to get to work and back, parking along the street to walking down the trail.
According to Kuffner, eight to 10 cars park outside the Kenna exit to walk to work via the Waud Bluff Trail.
One unresolved issue is the lack of a crosswalk at the entrance to the trail on Willamette Boulevard.
According to Kuffner, it was hard enough to get a crosswalk at UP's main entrance on Willamette.
Although the University is cooperating with construction work and signed an access agreement, it ultimately supports any concerns the neighborhood association has regarding the trail, Kuffner said.
"Their concerns are our concerns," Kuffner said.
