Columbus construction crews achieved a massive breakthrough — quite literally — on Wednesday when an excavation machine penetrated the final stretch of a massive three-mile long sewer overflow tunnel.
The machine bored through a concrete wall at the bottom of a 50-foot hole near Tuttle Park just before 3 p.m. As the machine broke through with a loud bang, contractor crews and employees with Columbus Water and Power cheered from above the hole.
Columbus has been building the Lower Olentangy Tunnel for nearly four years. When complete in late 2026, the $250 million project will help prevent sewage overflow during increasingly common severe storms from polluting waterways like the Olentangy River…