Contractor covers site to stabilize SW Portland hillside

UPDATE • Families seek support in aftermath of devastating landslide

Pamplin Media Group, Oct 17, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (7 Reader comments)

Plastic sheeting installed by Anderson Pacific will help shore up the hillside at Southwest Burlingame Place where a house collapsed in an Oct. 8 landslide.

L.E. BASKOW / Portland Tribune

Contractor Anderson Pacific of Ridgefield, Wash., completed work this week to shore up the hillside on Southwest Burlingame Place where a landslide destroyed a house in the early morning hours of Oct. 8.

Ross Caron, bureau spokesman, said Anderson Pacific was hired Friday, Oct. 17, by the city’s Bureau of Development Services and worked with city geotechnical engineers to prevent the hillside from sliding further or doing more damage to the area.

“The contractor will work with our folks installing temporary slope stabilization measures like laying down plastic sheeting over the hillside landscape that will be anchored to prevent more sliding,” Caron said.

Anderson Pacific also installed a temporary drainage system to reroute water from the hillside to Southwest Terwilliger Boulevard, he said.

The work began Saturday morning and was finished Monday afternoon, Caron said. The contractor hopes to have the hillside stabilized and drainage systems in place before heavy rain hits the area, he said.

Doug Morgan, bureau site development section manager, and Erika Koss, bureau site development engineer, took shifts throughout the weekend to monitor the work. Koss and bureau Director Paul Scarlett filed sandbags on Sunday to help anchor the plastic sheeting protecting the hillside.

The temporary protection measures will stay in place while the bureau works with property owners and their representatives to make permanent repairs.

A bureau customer assistance team began talking Thursday, Oct. 16, with 11 property owners in the slide area along Burlingame Place and Terwilliger Boulevard.

Geologists probe causes of sliding SW Portland home

During a meeting, bureau Director Paul Scarlett assured the property owners that the bureau would continue to assist in the recovery efforts. Property owners said they wanted the city to temporarily secure the slope while they continue to work with their insurance companies and representatives on recovery efforts.

Also on Thursday, Scarlett declared an emergency in the area, allowing the bureau to begin the slope stabilization work.

In addition, city engineers began evaluating the condition of homes at 6442 S.W. Burlingame Place and 6307 S.W. Terwilliger Blvd. Both of the homes were red-tagged as unsafe for entry after the Oct. 8 landslide. The bureau agreed to lift the red tags and replace them with limited-entry yellow tags temporarily to allow property owners to remove belongings. The red tags will be replaced after the belongings are removed.

Homeowners whose property was damaged during the landslide said last week that the city realized it faced an “emergency situation” and took action.

“Once they clean out this debris, then you can really get in some effective erosion control,” said Shan Hemphill, whose house is on Terwilliger Boulevard next door to one that was damaged in the slide.

Friends offer help, donations

Neighbors, friends and even perfect strangers of the affected households are cooking meals, buying gift cards and donating money in the aftermath of the devastating landslide.

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