Pawtucket Tunnel TBM arrives in the US

11 May 2022


The TBM for Rhode Island’s Pawtucket Tunnel Project has arrived in the US.

Discharged in Port Newark, New Jersey, the TBM will dig the 3.5km-long tunnel which is part of a scheme to improve water quality in Narragansett Bay. Located in the Rhode Island Delta, approximately 75km south of Boston, the Pawtucket Tunnel Project is the first part of phase 3 of the Narragansett Bay Commission’s water management modernisation programme.

Following the route of the Seekonk River, the TBM will excavate at depths of up to 52m through a varied geology beneath an urban residential area. Three main shafts will also be excavated, one of which will form part of a pumping station supplying the existing treatment plant. There will also be four drop shafts to act as water collectors linked to the main tunnel by connector tunnels. Construction is scheduled for completion in 2025.

A joint venture comprising CBNA, a US-based subsidiary of Bouygues Travaux Publics and local civil works contractor Barletta Heavy Division, supported by Aecom, is designing and constructing the US$480m tunnel.