{"id":6408,"date":"2023-06-01T15:39:16","date_gmt":"2023-06-01T15:39:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.laneconstruct.com\/?post_type=story&p=6408"},"modified":"2023-08-02T16:33:39","modified_gmt":"2023-08-02T16:33:39","slug":"protecting-washington-d-c-from-floods-and-sewage","status":"publish","type":"story","link":"https:\/\/www.laneconstruct.com\/who-we-are\/our-stories\/protecting-washington-d-c-from-floods-and-sewage\/","title":{"rendered":"Protecting Washington D.C. from floods and sewage"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n

Built around 1900, Washington D.C.\u2019s combined sewer system has been unable to reduce major sewage outflows to the Anacostia River and prevent flooding to the surrounding neighborhoods for quite some time.  Lane Construction is doing its part by building the Northeast Boundary Tunnel, part of a series of underground tunnels that will reduce flooding and improve the water quality of the Anacostia River<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n

Washington D.C. and the Anacostia River<\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

At the time that Washington D.C. was created in 1790, the Anacostia River had already been in use for decades as a shipping channel for tobacco.  By the mid 1880s, so much silt had accumulated on the bottom of the river that it had to be abandoned for business. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

By 2010, the population of Washington D.C. grew to about 600,000 people with the Anacostia River seeing more and more pollution from garbage coming from communities surrounding the river, and raw sewage, particularly during rainstorms.  Urban runoff of stormwater was flowing into the river via its antiquated combined sewer system<\/strong> at an alarming rate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2011 the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority (DCWASA) started a project to construct four large and deep sewage storage tunnels, running next to the Anacostia and Potomac rivers that would address the combined sewer overflow problem into the Anacostia River.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first tunnel was operational in 2018.  This tunnel prevented 90% of sewage overflows into the Anacostia River and has kept 7 billion gallons of untreated sewage out of the river, including 3,100 tons of trash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second tunnel, or the Northeast Boundary Tunnel (NEBT) being delivered by Lane, is a large deep sewer tunnel<\/strong> that will increase the prevention of sewage outflows to the Anacostia River to 98%<\/strong>.  Even better news \u2014 it will be online 2 years ahead of schedule bringing much needed improvement to the Anacostia River.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Benefits to Washington D.C.\u2019s Residents and Commuters<\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

D.C.\u2019s combined sewer system is more than 100 years old and can\u2019t handle today\u2019s population.  Around the time of development in 1900, Washington D.C.\u2019s population was 278,718.  Today it is 689,545, according to the U.S. Census.  If you add the number of people commuting everyday into Washington D.C. (approximately 500,000), this number goes well above 1,100,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For decades the neighborhoods of Bloomingdale, Trinidad, Ivy City, Brentwood, and LeDroit Park have been flooded by the undersized system.  Commuters using the Rhode Island Avenue Metro Station, Rhode Island Avenue NE, and Mount Olivet Road NE have had to endure major flooding on an all too regular basis. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The flooding has been around for a while<\/strong>. Thirty-five years ago in 1987<\/strong>, speaking about these problem areas, The Chief of Sewer Services Bureau for the D.C. Department of Public Works, Otto James told the Washington Post \u201cIn a sudden, heavy rainstorm, these areas often get too much water for the drain.”1<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Help is finally coming<\/strong> to the many residents and commuters.  Doing its part, Lane will deliver:<\/p>\n\n\n\n