Granite JV Lands $325M Big Creek Sewer Tunnel in Cleveland
A $324.8 million, 20-foot-diameter sewer tunnel in Cleveland now has its builders: Granite Construction and Super Excavators, Construction Dive reports. The Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District (NEORSD) is the owner, and construction is set to begin this fall.
Market Impact
Granite announced the award in an Oct. 1 news release. The Big Creek Tunnel scope covers 22,300 linear feet of 20-foot-diameter tunnel and 3,115 linear feet of ancillary tunnels, including adits, an overflow tunnel, a connecting tunnel and a dewatering tunnel. The job also includes multiple shafts, diversion structures, gate and screening structures, gate control vaults, consolidation sewers and an overflow box culvert. Sitework, restoration and utilities are covered as well.
The tunnel will run more than four miles through rock, 50 to 100 feet beneath Cleveland, Linndale and Brooklyn. Once finished, it will eliminate 550 million gallons of combined sewer releases a year. It is the last of seven large-diameter combined sewer overflow storage tunnels in NEORSD’s Project Clean Lake, a $3 billion, 24-year program that began in 2011. Granite expects completion in winter 2030.
Construction Dive notes that public water work has been strong for primes in 2026, citing the $1 billion Ohio River Tunnel award in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania (Lane Construction and Brayman Construction) and a $518 million floodwater project in Virginia started by FlatironDragados.
What It Means for Subcontractors
The prime contract is already awarded, so there is no owner bid to chase. The source does not say whether any subcontract packages have been issued. The following is our read on where the work will sit.
- Shaft and structure trades: The scope lists multiple shafts, diversion structures, gate and screening structures and gate control vaults. Excavation support, concrete, rebar and structural subs should get in front of the Granite and Super Excavators JV before mobilization this fall.
- Tunnel support scopes (inference): The source does not name muck haul, dewatering or grouting packages. A four-mile-plus rock drive with a dedicated dewatering tunnel makes those likely buyout items. Haulers, dewatering contractors and grout specialists should ask the JV’s procurement team now whether they are being packaged.
- Site, sewer and utility work: Consolidation sewers, an overflow box culvert, utilities and restoration are in the prime scope. Pipe, open-cut utility and restoration crews working Cleveland, Linndale and Brooklyn are the natural fit. Those surface packages may come ahead of the tunnel drive, though the source does not confirm sequencing.
- Route to the JV: The source names Granite’s tunnel division as the lead, with Jim Nickerson as vice president. Super Excavators is based in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin. Granite is headquartered in Watsonville, California. No prequalification portal is mentioned, so start with direct outreach to both firms.
- Schedule gate: Construction starts in fall 2026 and runs to winter 2030. Subs wanting early scopes need to be in the JV’s buyout conversations in Q4 2026, before the first shaft work starts.
- Comparable tunnel jobs: Lane/Brayman’s $1 billion Ohio River Tunnel and the $518 million Virginia project are other large public water jobs. Firms already working on them may be able to bring crew and equipment experience to Cleveland.
