Community Corner
WSSC 'Holes Through' in New Water Main Project
Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission engineers recently completed the tunnel-boring process to build the Bi-County Water Tunnel Project.
Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission engineers recently completed the last leg of the 5.3-mile tunnel-boring process necessary to build the Bi-County Water Tunnel Project, according to a WSSC news statement.
"Hitting a target 4.5 miles away when boring a tunnel 200 feet underground is quite a feat. On Friday, April 26, the tunnel-boring machine "hit the target just a few feet off dead center, breaking through the wall of a shaft near Tuckerman Lane and I-270," the statement reported.
Miners call that target-hitting moment "holing through," WSSC said.
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As soon as the tunnel-boring machine is removed from the tunnel shaft, pipe installation will begin.
The tunnel runs about 200 feet underground along Interstate 270 and Interstate 495, and will house an 84-inch-diameter water main. The project, slated to be completed in 2014, will connect two existing 96-inch mains and have a capacity of 100 million gallons of water a day, WSSC added.
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The new line is being constructed to meet increasing demands for water in Prince George’s and Montgomery counties, as well as to increase water reserves in case of emergency, WSSC stated.
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