The City of Newburgh government announced the first of three underground tunnels have been completed as part of the North Interceptor Sewer Improvement Project. The overall project will cost $32 million.
This phase of the project is being completed by a specially designed tunnel boring machine capable of “microtunneling” – an innovative, remote-operated trenchless construction method that allows for simultaneous excavation and pipe laying with minimal disruption to residents. Over a period of 35 days, the machine broke through 487 feet of solid rock, traveling a path along Colden Street, between First Street and Second Street to complete the first tunnel.
This first section of new sewer tunnel was created by launching the machine from inside a 50 foot deep shaft excavated at the intersection of First Street and Colden Street. The machine bored the new tunnel in a northerly direction to a receiving shaft excavated at the intersection of Second Street and Colden Street. The machine was then extracted from the Second Street shaft and commenced boring the next section of tunnel along Colden Street between Broadway and First Street.
The North Interceptor Sewer Improvement Project is the largest infrastructure project to take place in the City in decades. The $32 million project commenced construction in April 2022 and is estimated to be completed in the Spring of 2024. At completion, the project will have installed 8,700 linear feet of new, larger-gravity sanitary sewer piping to make upgrades to the City’s combined sewer infrastructure that are crucial to protecting the water quality of the Hudson River.
Newburgh City Manager Todd Venning stated the sewer project is part of $100 million being pumped into renovations throughout the City of Newburgh. He hopes it will revitalize the local economy.
