36 MAY 2025 WorldWide Drilling Resource® www.starironworks.com 257 Caroline Street Punxsutawney, PA 15767 800-927-0560 • 814-427-2555 Fax: 814-427-5164 Serving the Water Well Industry Blackwater CSO Tunnel Adapted from Information by Lynchburg Water Resources (LWR) LYNBeyond, also known as the Blackwater CSO (combined sewer overflows) Tunnel Project, represents a significant investment in safeguarding Lynchburg’s vital waterways and is the largest capital improvement project in Lynchburg, Virginia’s history. The Blackwater CSO Tunnel, measuring nearly a mile long and 12 feet in diameter, will be constructed 70 to 120 feet beneath Blackwater Creek, providing a storage capacity of up to 4.7 million gallons of combined sewage and stormwater during significant rainfalls, preventing wastewater overflows into the city’s waterways. “Over 800 cities nationwide have combined sewer systems. The City of Lynchburg has been nationally recognized as having one of the most proactive programs to reduce and eliminate combined sewer overflows,” said Tim Mitchell, Director of LWR. “In fact, as a result of the CSO Program, we have eliminated over one billion gallons of combined sewage discharging into our waterways annually.” LWR has awarded Atkinson Construction the construction contract for the tunnel, and Stantec will handle planning, design, and project management. The project’s total cost is almost $104 million, with $50 million federally funded through the American Rescue Plan Act. The tunnel will be built using the drill and blast method, where workers drill multiple holes in the rock, fill them with blasting materials, detonate it, and then remove the resulting debris. A test blast, utilizing 25% of the standard blasting material, will be the first in a series of blasts. The drilling and blasting operations will occur within a previously constructed 38-foot-diameter shaft, which will serve as the focal point for these activities. A cover will be placed on the shaft to mitigate noise and keep the blasted rock contained. With the tunnel’s completion in 2027, the CSO program is expected to reduce sewage overflow volume by 98%, a significant improvement since the program began in 1979. EXB
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