4/12/2005
Media Contact:
Justin Ohlemiller, 327.3690
Margie Smith-Simmons, 327.4669 |
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Mayor Peterson hosts mayors of Lafayette & Greenwood in tour of city’s first underground sewage overflow tunnel
Tunneling project will significantly reduce overflows from Pogues Run
INDIANAPOLIS - Mayor Bart Peterson will host Lafayette Mayor Tony Roswarski and Greenwood Mayor Charles Henderson on a tour of an underground tunnel being constructed to redirect raw sewage overflows away from schools and playgrounds where children play on the near Eastside.
WHEN: Today, April 12, 2006
4-5 p.m.
WHERE: Highland Park - 1100 E. New York Street
Located on New York Street between Dorman Street and Highland Avenue. (Parking will be available in the lot just west of Dorman Avenue)
NOTE: Media will have the ability to tour the tunnel. All tour participants are required to wear a hardhat and vest (provided) and will be lowered into a shaft measuring 45 feet in diameter, with a depth of 65 feel. Launching of the second run of the tunnel will likely be underway, providing a better look at the machine during the tunneling process.
"Raw sewage overflows are a problem, not just here in Indianapolis, but in cities throughout our state and nation. Many mayors are looking at tunnels like this to help solve the sewage overflow problem in their cities," Mayor Peterson said.
Pogues Run was selected for the city’s first tunneling project because of its proximity to Arsenal Tech High School, Harshman Middle School, Horizon Alternative Middle School and Theodore Potter Elementary School. The project is part of the city’s long-term plan to clean up local neighborhoods by addressing the century-old problem of raw sewage overflowing into our streams and rivers when it rains.
Tunnels are being used increasingly by cities to reduce sewage overflows. When there is little available space at ground level, a tunnel can provide underground storage and conveyance capacity with significantly less disruption to streets and neighborhoods above. Tunnels are being used in Chicago, Milwaukee, Atlanta, Cleveland, Toledo and many other cities
to control sewage overflows.
"Tunnels can be dug underneath houses, parks, streets, and utility lines, causing very little disturbance to city neighborhoods and businesses," said DPW Director James Garrard.
The tunnel is being dug with a 14-foot diameter, $12.5 million tunneling machine made specifically for Indianapolis by
LOVAT Inc., a Canadian company that specializes in the design and manufacture of tunneling equipment. Known as an
Earth Pressure Balance Tunnel Boring Machine, the equipment enables engineers to tunnel through soft soils without causing a collapse of the ground above. Behind the cutting head, the machine is installing pre-fabricated concrete lining as the tunnel is excavated.
Focusing on the lower portion of Pogues Run between 10th and New York streets, the project includes rehabilitating old brick sewers, replacing the Dorman Street vehicular bridge with a pedestrian bridge and widening Pogues Run. These changes will bring the Cottage Home neighborhood out of the 100-year flood zone and allow residents to discontinue their flood insurance.
Raw sewage overflows in the area will be reduced dramatically when the $19.2 million project is complete in December 2006
The project is part of the city’s long-term plan to meet Clean Water Act requirements to reduce sewer overflows. The city is nearing the completion of negotiations with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Indiana Department of Environmental Management.
More than 100 years ago, Indianapolis built a "combined" sewer system that is still used today. It carries sewage, storm water and industrial waste away from homes, streets and factories in the same set of pipes. To avoid backups into homes, the system sends waste directly into Indianapolis waterways during wet weather.
When as little as a quarter-inch of rain falls, the extra water overloads the sewers, dumping raw sewage, human waste, toilet paper, disease-causing bacteria and viruses, industrial waste, and other pollutants directly into the city’s rivers, streams and creeks.
More than 770 communities across the nation, including 105 in Indiana, are required to reduce sewer overflows by developing and implementing long-term infrastructure improvement plans. The city’s plan, which has been developed through extensive public involvement and consultation, represents the largest public works project in Indianapolis’ history.
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