Construction Begins on Lynchburg’s Blackwater CSO Tunnel

Construction is underway on the Blackwater CSO Tunnel in Virginia, the largest capital improvement project in the City of Lynchburg’s history and the most impactful project to date in protecting Lynchburg’s cherished waterways. The tunnel project, called LYHBeyond, will construct a nearly mile-long, 12-ft diameter tunnel – between 70 and 120 ft beneath the Blackwater Creek – that can collect and store up to 4.7 million gallons of combined wastewater and stormwater during major rain events, keeping it from overflowing into our waterways.

“This project is the culmination of over 4 decades of work and over $400 million in total investment to restore water quality in the streams in Lynchburg and the James River,” said Tim Mitchell, Director of Lynchburg Water Resources. “Upon completion of LYHBeyond, only a few relatively small CSO projects will remain.”

The Blackwater CSO Tunnel will run from a new CSO 52 Drop Shaft facility on the Point of Honor Trail near Hollins Mill Road to a Downtown CSO Pump Station being built at the bottom of Seventh Street near the Langley Fountain.

Atkinson Construction was awarded LWR’s construction contract for the tunnel and started mobilizing at the Seventh Street location in July. While typical construction noise can be expected at that site for the coming months, drill-and-blast excavation will be used later in the project to clear the tunnel’s path. There will also be a temporary closure of a portion of the Point of Honor Trail later in the project. Construction updates will be shared throughout the project at www.lyhbeyond.org and through Lynchburg Water Resources’ social media pages, @LynchburgH2O. The project is expected to take three years to complete.