Global Best Projects 2018
Global Best Projects 2018 Award of Merit, Water/Wastewater: Anacostia River Tunnel

Careful planning and instrumentation helped the joint venture to complete the job with only 1⁄4 in. of settlement.
DIAGRAM COURTESY DC WATER

Careful planning and instrumentation helped the joint venture to complete the job with only 1⁄4 in. of settlement.
PHOTO COURTESY IMPREGILO HEALY PARSONS

Careful planning and instrumentation helped the joint venture to complete the job with only 1⁄4 in. of settlement.
PHOTO COURTESY IMPREGILO HEALY PARSONS



Anacostia River Tunnel
Washington, D.C.
Award of Merit
Owner DC Water
Lead Design Firm, Civil, Structural and MEP Engineer Parsons Professional Corp.
General Contractor Impregilo Healy Parsons Joint Venture
When almost 20 in. of rain fell on Washington, D.C., this past May, the Anacostia River Tunnel proved to be the solution that owner DC Water needed. The tunnel along the Anacostia River captured 650 million gallons of combined sewage overflow that would have gone into the river before the tunnel’s completion in March. The joint venture contractor built the 7-mile-long tunnel over the past five years. The soft-ground tunnel, created with a 26-ft-dia tunnel-boring machine, was entirely lined in prefabricated concrete segments. The team had several challenges, including not affecting an aquifer under the tunnel and not disturbing fragile, older water utilities or the regional underground line as the TBM progressed. Use of compensation grouting resulted in settlements of less than ¼ in.