Oregon Zoo Elephant Habitat

Project Details

Date: December 2015

Location: Portland, Oregon

Size: 6.25 acres

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Cherry City Electric provided the electrical and lighting system for the additional acreage and Forest Hall building in Elephant Lands at the Oregon Zoo.  We dedicated three years to this project for the installation of the state-of-the-art system that manages the lighting, electrified barriers, water filters, food delivery, 64,000 feet of low voltage cabling and rooftop 30 kW photovoltaic system.  The elephants are active 14-16 hours a day and have a variety of options, both indoor and outdoor, for feeding, water and dry sand area use.  Our team designed and installed the perimeter electrified fence that surrounds the habitat exterior and worked throughout the exhibit while the elephants occupied the space, which made for an interesting work day.  Extreme care was taken during the construction process to protect the lives and daily activity routine for both humans and animals.  The animals sense the electrified systems when they approach and stay away. The current system controls have built-in alarms and indicator lights for ground faults and power loss to prevent problems from arising.  This project achieved LEED Gold status and was awarded 2016 Top Public Project of the Year by the Daily Journal of Commerce.  Photo courtesy of Sam Tenney, Daily Journal of Commerce and Oregon Zoo.