Fort Wayne Groundbreaking Marks Start of 3RPORT Project

The groundbreaking ceremony of the Three Rivers Protection and Overflow Reduction Tunnel (3RPORT) project in Fort Wayne, Indiana, on June 15 marked the beginning of the largest construction and public investment project the City has ever seen. Fort Wayne is the second largest city in Indiana with a population of 260,326.

The tunnel, being constructed by Lane Construction’s S.A. Healy Company, and parent company Salini Impregilo, is a major portion of the effort to clean up Fort Wayne’s rivers and protect neighborhoods from basement back-ups and street flooding. It will do this by collecting and conveying combined sewer overflow (CSO) from eight locations along the St. Marys and Maumee Rivers. Once completed, the system will reduce 90% of CSOs – or more than 850 billion gallons on average each year – into the rivers, which occur during large rain storms.

Mayor Tom Henry, members of the Fort Wayne City Council, neighborhood leaders, and City Utilities staff members joined Giuseppe Quarta, Executive Vice President of P3, Large Projects, and Tunneling of The Lane Construction Corporation and President of S.A. Healy Company, and other members from the S.A. Healy Company and Salini Impregilo joint-venture construction contractors team, to break ground for the deep-rock tunnel.

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“We are very excited about this project. This is the fourth Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) we are building in the USA. Projects that improve quality of life, environmental projects, and renewable energy projects are part of the values and the main core business of our group of companies. We look forward to working with the local workforce and the local business community and authorities,” said Quarta.

The groundbreaking was held at the hub of the tunnel construction area near the planned working shaft and where the construction building will be. The building will be completed this fall and the working shaft will be completed next spring. In the summer of 2018, pieces of the tunnel boring machine (TBM) will be delivered and after assembly, the TBM will be put in the ground and is expected to begin its journey in late summer of 2018. The project will also include nine drop shafts in several neighborhoods. Fort Wayne City Utilities is the largest municipally owned water and sewer utility in Indiana.

The project, which is expected to be completed in 2021, was designed for a life expectancy of 100 years. The contract, valued at $188 million, was awarded to the joint venture partners, S.A. Healy Company and Salini Impregilo, earlier this year. S.A Healy and Salini Impregilo are currently working on the Anacostia River Tunnel project in Washington, D.C., and the Dugway Storage Tunnel project in Cleveland, Ohio. Together the team has previously completed the West Side CSO project in Portland, Oregon.

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