By Lynda Myer
By arrival of the TBM, which was discharged in Port Newark, New Jersey for Rhode Island’s Pawtucket Tunnel Project in the US, the excavation process of a 3.5km-long tunnel as a part of a scheme to improve water quality in Narragansett Bay was commenced. Placed in the Rhode Island Delta, almost 75km south of Boston, the Pawtucket Tunnel Project is the first part of phase 3 of the Narragansett Bay Commission’s water management modernization program.
Including three main shafts, one of which will form part of a pumping station supplying the available treatment plant, TBM is due to dig at depths of up to 52m through varied geology under an urban residential area following the path of the Seekonk River. Additionally, there will also be four drop shafts to act as water collectors connected to the main tunnel by connector tunnels. The determined date for completion of construction is 2025.
Designing and construction process of this US$480m tunnel, is up to a joint venture comprising CBNA, a US-based subsidiary of Bouygues Travaux Publics, and local civil works contractor Barletta Heavy Division, supported by Aecom.
