Tunnel boring machine gets preview in Akron

Derek Kreider

Akron Beacon Journal USA TODAY NETWORK

Akron’s newest tunnel boring machine, Elaine, is in town and will soon start chewing through whatever is in its way as it digs the Northside Interceptor Tunnel.

Named after Elaine Marsh, a longtime environmental activist, Elaine (the machine, not the person) will dig out a 6,600-foot, $215 million tunnel more than 100 feet underground and be able to store up to 10.65 million gallons of combined sewage that currently flows into the Cuyahoga River during wetweather events in the Gorge area.

This is the next phase of the city’s ongoing EPA-mandated sewer improvement project.

Marsh was at the tunneling site

Monday, meeting the machine named after her. Being chosen as the namesake for the tunnel borer is a big deal, she said.

“I think I have never had such a proud moment in my life,” Marsh said. “It is an honor I never would have believed I would have had, and it’s very special. When I called my daughter up to tell her, my 6-year-old grandson said, ‘They’re naming a boring machine after you, granny? You’re not boring!’” Marsh has served in many groups and on committees with the city of Akron, including AWR Stakeholders, Cuyahoga River Water Trail, Cuyahoga River Area of Concern Advisory Committee, Friends of the Crooked River (co-founder), Akron Blue Heron Homecoming, removal of the Brecksville Dam and the current removal of the Gorge Dam.

She currently serves as a watershed specialist for Summit Metro Parks. Her role is to assist local utilities, Ohio EPA and others in projects that enhance water quality.

She has won dozens of awards and recognitions over the years, including the 2005 Lifetime Achievement award from the Ohio Environmental Council.

Marsh said she’s watched the Cuyahoga River transform from a river prone to bursting into flames to a river that supports a trout population.

“That’s a huge thing to happen,” she said, “and I feel like it was a tremendous honor to see that happen, and I’m just really happy to be here.

Heather Ullinger, senior engineer with the Akron Engineering Bureau, said the tunnel must be finished by the end of 2026.

The 460-foot-long, 619-ton machine is still being assembled on-site.

Elaine is smaller in comparison to her “older sister” Rosie, which drilled a 27-foot diameter tunnel 6,200 feet under downtown Akron to complete the Ohio Canal Interceptor Tunnel in 2018.

Service Director Chris Ludle said the machine will hopefully begin mining in late February or early March.

“And then they’ll be mining the whole mile along the river here, all the way over to Front Street,” Ludle said, “and come out at the old Gorge Ohio Edison Power Plant.”

He said the project has so far been minimally disruptive to the public.

“People don’t even really know we’re down here,” said Ludle. “So far, everything’s going very well.”

Akron Mayor Shammas Malik was present, too, to get a look at the huge piece of German-built equipment.

“My mom was an engineering professor,” he said. “This kind of stuff is so interesting.”

Malik talked about the good the improvement projects have done for the community.

“The benefit that it’s had for our river is incredible,” he said. “The cost has been staggering, and the cost is a significant burden on our ratepayers, but this is something I think we can celebrate just as a feat of engineering and an investment in our river.”

Contact reporter Derek Kreider at DKreider@Gannett.com or 330-5419413.