Charlottesville, VA— September 29, 2015
After five months of work, the Rivanna Water & Sewer Authority contractors have successfully tunneled through about 1,600 feet of rock (6,000 cubic yards), officially reaching the destination at the existing Rivanna Pump Station located adjacent to the City’s Riverview Park in the Woolen Mills area. The construction crew and engineers witnessed the 11′-3″ diameter, 175 foot long tunnel boring machine (affectionately named Ms. Chelsea, pictured below) breaking into the exit shaft at about 1pm on Tuesday, September 29 as a part of the construction for the New Rivanna Pump Station and Interceptor Tunnel Project. The 1,600 foot-long tunnel will accommodate a sixty-inch diameter pipe to carry sewer flows to the new pump station located at the Moores Creek Advanced Water Resource Recovery Facility.
This pipe and the New Rivanna Pump Station will provide an increase in pumping capacity from 17 to 37 thousand gallons per minute (or 53 million gallons per day) of wastewater coming from the northern and eastern portion of the City and the County. Without this upgrade in the wastewater system, sewer can overflow into the Rivanna River during big storm events. Additional features of the New Rivanna Pump Station include a self-cleaning wet well design, influent channel grinders, six pumps, odor control, and an emergency generator.
“This is not only an amazing feat of engineering to witness, but after several years of evaluating design alternatives, holding community meetings, and construction, this project has really brought the community together,” Michelle Simpson, Senior Civil Engineer from Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority said.
This is a milestone moment for the New Rivanna Pump Station $33.3 million dollar project which has been in the works for 5 years and is due for completion in summer 2017.
First Sign of the Breakthrough
Boring Machine Still Spinning
Ms. Chelsea Still Churning
Tunnel Breakthrough Successful!
