Akron debuted its new tunnel boring machine this week as the city begins the next phase of its combined sewer overflow project. The type of machine, also referred to as a “worm” or a “mole,” is named for Elaine Marsh, a prominent figure in Northeast Ohio’s fight for clean water.
As part of the Akron Waterways Renewed! plan, the machine will bore a 6,600-foot Northside Interceptor Tunnel that will hold up to 10 million gallons of sewage that would otherwise end up in the Cuyahoga River.
“These tunnels, which were a big part of this plan, would hold the water during rain events and then slowly take it to the treatment plant to be treated rather than sent out into the closest receiving stream, in this case, the Cuyahoga River,” Marsh said…