Before the pandemic, the big lingering concern was a Cascadian event, or earthquake. Work across the region continues on shoring up vital resources.
In Eugene’s South Hills, construction crews are working on a 2.5 acre site that’ll accommodate two massive water tanks.
“Each tank is 212 ft. in diameter, and 35-ft. tall,” Laura Farthing told KLCC. “They can hold 7.5 million gallons of water apiece.”
Farthing is a senior engineer with EWEB’s water division. She said this $25 million project began in April 2021 and will be done in December 2023.
In total, there’ll be three such sites built across Eugene, all engineered to withstand a major earthquake.
“These tanks are a common type of construction that they use in Japan and California,” explained Farthing. “So they’ve been tested in similar size and duration earthquakes, and have been known to withstand that amount of shaking and event.”
The water stored will be for consumption, fire-fighting, and personal needs.
©2022, KLCC.
