Tunnel Reinforcement

600 feet below the Hudson River, the Delaware Aqueduct Bypass Tunnel, drilled through bedrock and lined with concrete, now has been reinforced with 9,200 linear feet of steel. The inside of each of the 230 massive steel liners was outfitted with steel rebar to support the final concrete lining of the tunnel, which will be pumped into the tunnel and formed in the coming months.

How far below the earth is 600 feet? Check out this sped up video of a cage being lowered 700 feet into one of the shaft sites…

The $1 billion repair project remains on budget and on schedule. The Delaware Aqueduct is scheduled to be shut down for 5–8 months starting in autumn 2022. At that time, workers will start the all-important work of connecting each end of the bypass tunnel to the existing aqueduct.