Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District selects MWH/HMM joint venture to address sewer overflows impacting Lake Erie

BROOMFIELD, COLO. — MWH was selected as design consultant for the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District’s (NEORSD) Dugway Storage Tunnel project in joint venture with Hatch Mott MacDonald (HMM). Combined with MWH’s work 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 feet below ground, the 24-foot-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.

“MWH appreciates this opportunity to expand our work for the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District to include the Dugway Storage Tunnel,” said Bruce Howard, Americas president of government and infrastructure for MWH. “Our deep experience and knowledge of tunneling and sewer systems will help us address sewer overflows in the region and alleviate the strains currently facing Northeast Ohio’s infrastructure.”

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