(Lawrenceville, Ga., Oct. 28, 2009) - Lynn Smarr with the Gwinnett Department of Water Resources announced today that the new 12-foot diameter, three-mile long No Business Creek tunnel in southern Gwinnett County has "holed through." This means that the tunnel-boring machine, which started at the No Business Creek pump station site, drilled through to the end shaft at the Jacks Creek Water Reclamation Facility site.

"The No Business Creek tunnel will transport and manage wastewater flows from the No Business Creek and Jacks Creek drainage basins in the southern end of the county to either the F. Wayne Hill Water Resources Center near Buford or the Yellow River Water Reclamation Facility near Lilburn," said DWR Acting Director Lynn Smarr. "Flows are not uniform throughout the day, so the tunnel will offer the added advantage of providing storage and allowing wastewater to be pumped at a steady rate rather than having to meet peak flows at high usage times. And because a smaller pump station can be used, this project will save money in both energy and construction costs."

Both the tunnel project and the upgrades to the Yellow River Water Reclamation Facility, with its 22-million-gallons-per-day treatment capacity, allowed for the decommissioning of three older, inefficient wastewater treatment plants earlier this year. Two other facilities will eventually be phased out as well, having reached the end of their useful life. While consolidated wastewater treatment provides for greater reliability and lower pollutant loads being discharged to the stream, the total treatment capacity will not increase.

The tunnel-boring work began 13 months ago and was performed primarily in deep, solid rock under Springdale Road and Everson Road. The tunnel ranges from nearly 200 feet to 80 feet deep, with a depth generally exceeding 100 feet.

"We are pleased that the boring phase of this construction project has been finished," said Smarr. "Now we can complete the rest of the tunnel project, which we expect will go into service next summer."

Besides the tunnel, the $60 million project also includes a 10-million-gallons-per-day pump station, a grinder vault and odor control equipment in buildings. Life expectancy of the tunnel is at least 100 years.