NEORSD Selects MWH/HMM JV for Next Tunnel Phase

A joint venture between MWH and Hatch Mott MacDonald has been selected as design consultant for the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District’s (NEORSD) Dugway Storage Tunnel. Combined with the work for MWH on Easterly Tunnel Dewatering Pump Station and HMM’s involvement with the Euclid Creek Storage Tunnel, the project represents a key component of the organization’s 25-year plan to protect Lake Erie and its tributary rivers and streams from combined sewer overflows.

As the result of a successfully negotiated consent decree with the U.S. and Ohio Environmental Protection Agencies, NEORSD will implement the long-term plan to include wet weather treatment plant upgrades, collection system improvements, green infrastructure and deep storage tunnels.  NEORSD selected MWH to provide facility design and engineering for the Dugway Storage Tunnel, as well as design support during construction for this critical project.

Buried up to 280 ft below ground, the 24-ft diameter Dugway Storage Tunnel will connect to the MWH-designed Easterly Tunnel Dewatering Pump Station and the HMM-designed Euclid Creek Storage Tunnel, which are both currently under construction. That network will capture, store and treat sewer overflows from storm events, preventing untreated wastewater from spilling into the surrounding watershed.

Construction of the Dugway Storage Tunnel improvements is anticipated to take four years following the initial 18 month design phase.