NEWBURGH, NY—The City of Newburgh announced on April 4 the successful completion of the first of three underground tunnels planned for the city’s $32-million North Interceptor Sewer Improvement Project.

The first phase of the project was completed by a specially designed tunnel boring machine (TBM) capable of “microtunneling”—an innovative, remote-operated trenchless construction method that allows for simultaneous excavation and pipe laying with minimal disruption to residents. Over a period of 35 days, the TBM broke through 487 feet of solid rock, traveling a path along Colden Street, between First Street and Second Street to complete the first tunnel.

The prime contractor on the project is Kubricky Construction Corp. of Queensbury, NY. The subcontractor performing the tunneling work is SECA Underground Corp. of Baltimore, MD.

This first section of new sewer tunnel was created by launching the TBM from inside a 50-foot-deep shaft excavated at the intersection of First Street and Colden Street, and boring the new tunnel in a northerly direction to a receiving shaft excavated at the intersection of Second Street and Colden Street. The TBM was then extracted from the Second Street shaft and commenced boring the next section of tunnel along Colden Street between Broadway and First Street on March 30^th.

The North Interceptor Sewer Improvement Project is the largest and most significant infrastructure project to take place in the city in decades, City of Newburgh officials stated. The project commenced construction in April 2022 and will be completed in the spring of 2024.

At completion, the project will have installed 8,700 linear feet of new, larger-gravity sanitary sewer piping to make upgrades to the city’s combined sewer infrastructure.