Pittsburgh's $1B Ohio River Sewer Tunnel Project Is a Five-Year Heavy Civil Opportunity
According to Engineering News-Record, a joint venture of Lane Construction Corp. and Brayman Construction Corp. has been selected to build the Ohio River Tunnel project in Pittsburgh, a five-year, $1 billion contract set to get underway later this year.
Project Scope and Timeline
The contract, awarded by the Allegheny County Sanitary Authority (ALCOSAN), calls for constructing nearly 5 miles of deep tunnels to channel excess wet-weather flows to a new pump station at ALCOSAN’s North Side wastewater treatment plant. The primary tunnel runs 3.8 miles along the Ohio River, measures 18 ft in diameter, and will be bored approximately 118 ft to 150 ft underground using a tunnel boring machine. The underground network also includes two secondary tunnels of 14 ft in diameter, a dewatering tunnel, eight deep shafts ranging from 25 to 70 ft in diameter, ten flow regulator structures, two technical buildings, and a new river outfall.
Lane, the U.S. subsidiary of Webuild Group, will handle project management and major tunneling operations. Pittsburgh-based Brayman will oversee heavy civil and shaft construction. ALCOSAN says the completed system will reduce combined sewer overflows into regional waterways by approximately 7 billion gallons annually and is designed to last at least 100 years.
This project is the first component of a broader multi-billion-dollar regional program. ALCOSAN’s full buildout, tentatively scheduled over the next 15 years, will total 16 miles of wet-weather tunnel, 40 regulators, more than 30 shafts, and approximately 4 miles of consolidation sewer. Two additional deep tunnels are already planned under the same program.
What It Means for Subcontractors
- A long runway of work is coming. The Ohio River Tunnel is just the first phase of a 15-year, multi-billion-dollar program. Heavy civil and utility subcontractors who build relationships with Lane and Brayman now are positioning for follow-on contracts as the regional tunnel network expands.
- Shaft and civil work is a separate lane. Brayman’s specific role covering heavy civil and shaft construction signals that these scopes may carry distinct subcontracting packages. Firms specializing in ground support, excavation, concrete forming, or deep foundation work should be paying attention.
- Specialty underground trades are in demand. With 8 deep shafts, 10 flow regulator structures, dewatering infrastructure, and two technical buildings all in scope, there is significant work beyond the main bore for mechanical, electrical, instrumentation, and structural subs with underground or wet-utility experience.
- Mid-Atlantic market is active. This project, combined with other regional sewer overflow programs (ENR referenced a related Alexandria, Virginia project), points to a broader wave of CSO compliance spending across the mid-Atlantic. Subcontractors with the right bonding capacity and underground experience should be monitoring ALCOSAN procurement releases closely.
