Nov. 7, 2021

Dear East 40th Neighbors,

Controlled blasting is expected to resume Tuesday, Nov. 9, from 1 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Horn safety signals will sound 5 minutes and 1 minute before the blast and at the conclusion of the blast.

If you are near the construction site and hear a horn signal, please be aware blasting activity will occur shortly and follow instructions of site personnel or any additional signage that may be posted.

The blasting contractor has submitted a plan to EWEB for preventing incidents like what happened on Nov. 2 from occurring again.

[Editor’s note:  In that Nov. 2 incident, a planned blast ejected rocks and debris, damaging a Southeast Eugene home.  Investigators used drone footage and seismograph data to determine the root cause: The drilling crew had been unable to drill to the required depth so abandoned the attempt and moved to a different location. The blast crew did not know there was a partial, open blast hole just beyond the edge of the mats.  Blast energy followed the path of least resistance, ejecting rocks and debris into the siding of a South Hilyard home. A resident within five feet of the ejected rocks was miraculously untouched.]

The plan includes expanding the footprint of blast mats to extend 20 feet past the last loaded hole, and retraining workers to ensure they mark any drill hole anomalies with visible flags.

EWEB’s Safety Office has reviewed the contractor’s plan and we are satisfied that these corrective actions are appropriate to prevent future incidents.

At this time, we expect the twice-a-week blasting schedule will resume on Tuesday, Nov. 9. However, there will be no blast on Thursday, Nov. 11 as this is a Federal holiday (Veterans Day).

It’s possible that a second blast might be rescheduled for another day during the week of Nov. 8 (to make up for the missed 11/11 blast). If a second blast is planned, we will inform neighbors in advance.

As a reminder, scheduled blasts will occur between 1-1:30 p.m. The actual blast will last only a couple of seconds.

Contractors completed paving of the entrance last week. The paved entrance in intended to reduce the amount of sediment leaving the site and entering the gutter. With this new erosion control measure in place, excavation and dump truck traffic resumed Monday Nov. 8.

Contact us with questions
If you have questions or input, please don’t hesitate to reach out to the project team at 541-685-7899 or water.storage@eweb.org. Emails sent to this address will reach:

Laura Farthing, Project Manager/Senior Civil Engineer
Jen Connors, Communications Supervisor
Jeannine Parisi, Customer Relationship Manager
Wally McCullough, Water Engineering Supervisor