By Ashley Karen
As the DC water agency declared, NEBT (the Northeast Boundary Tunnel), the most recent of DC Water’s Clean Rivers Project, finished commissioning on Sept. 15.
The NEBT is 50-160 ft beneath the ground and drives 27,000 ft from just south of Robert F. Kennedy Stadium to the intersection of Rhode Island Avenue NW and 6th Street NW.
In the flooding situation, the tunnel will receive flows from the sewer system charged by diversion facilities and transfer them to DC Water’s Blue Plains Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant.
In addition, the Northeast Boundary Tunnel project involved the construction of ventilation control facilities, stormwater inlets, and green infrastructure.
As expected, the NEBT will decrease combined sewer overflows to the Anacostia River by 98 percent and the chance of flooding in the areas it serves from about 50 percent to seven percent in any given year.
Work started in September 2017 and was finished ahead of the Consent Decree plan. The project is worth about $580 million and was constructed by Webuild Group and JV subsidiary Lane Construction.
