Tillamook County Emergency Response
In December of 2015, Tillamook County and most of Northwest Oregon experienced an extreme weather event breaking both 24-hour and monthly records for rainfall since recordkeeping began in 1895. The event inundated Tillamook County with more than 2 feet of rain that month, triggering landslides and debris flows that caused more than $8 million in damages to the county road system.
Within hours of the event, DOWL dispatched a team of engineers and inspectors to assist County staff in assessment, inventory, design and inspection work to: get access back to cut-off communities like Cape Meares; rescue medically vulnerable community members in Garibaldi and Twin Rocks; and maintain access to Tillamook Creamery co-op members to avoid ruin. With the aid of the local contracting community, multiple slides were cleaned up, three bridges were constructed, and multiple culverts installed, all in the span of seven days. This effort is a testimony to community spirit and public-private partners in a time of need.
2018 was the culmination of repairs to the worst-hit areas of the 2015 storm, as the County completed construction for three of the storm-damaged sites, including: installation of the new bridge on Sollie Smith Road near the Wilson River, a new culvert at Harbor View Drive in Garibaldi, and the replacement of four culverts in the community of Twin Rocks.
Location
Tillamook County, Oregon
Region
Pacific Northwest
Market
Transportation
Services
Bridge
Construction Administration and Inspection