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Award: Tunnel project
Value: 1 billion dollars
Location: Allegheny County, Pennsylvania
Customer: Allegheny County Health Authority
A billion-dollar tunnel, a key part of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania’s multibillion-dollar clean water plan, has a builder.
Steel City Tunnel Partners, a joint venture of Lane Construction and Brayman Construction, has won a $1 billion contract to build the Ohio River Tunnel in the Pittsburgh region, according to a Wednesday announcement from the JV.
Charlotte, North Carolina-based Lane, which is the US subsidiary of Italian contractor Webuild Group, will carry out project management and main tunneling operations, the JV shared. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh-based Brayman will oversee the main heavy civil and axle construction activities.
As part of the scope of work, the construction team will create approximately 4.9 miles of deep tunnel, multiple shafts, regulatory structures and associated near-surface facilities. These facilities are designed to capture and transport wet weather combined sewer flows, which carry both sanitary and stormwater wastewater in the same system, for treatment, according to the contractors.
The Ohio River Tunnel is the first of three tunnel projects by the Allegheny County Sanitation Authority, also known as ALCOSAN, and the final design of the main tunnel is completeaccording to their website. Once complete, the system will reduce combined sewer overflows into regional waterways by approximately 7 billion gallons annually and divert excess wet weather flows for treatment, according to builders.
In general, the structure is a key piece of ALCOSAN Clean water planwhich will create two additional tunnels—the Allegheny River Tunnel and the Monongahela River Tunnel—and expand its North End plant. In general, the plan will be it cost approximately $4.5 billionaccording to a 2025 annual report by consulting engineer Hatch.
“At Brayman, we have studied and followed ALCOSAN’s Clean Water Plan for more than a decade, and we look forward to delivering the Ohio River Tunnel section together with our partner, Lane,” Brayman CEO Stephen Muck said in the press release.
In fact, water infrastructure projects have gained momentum across the country as contractors reach out to competitors for opportunities or cash in on multibillion-dollar projects in Texas and California.
“Lane, as a partner of Steel City Tunnel Partners, is proud to receive this landmark project, which will play a vital role in protecting the Ohio River and strengthening the region’s wastewater infrastructure for generations to come,” said Daniele Nebbia, Lane’s chief operating officer, in the announcement.
