The three-year, US$16m contract includes programme and construction management services for the project, which is designed to help mitigate the risk of flooding in the city, eradicate combined sewer overflow (CSO) discharges into the Merrimack River, and secure the river as a source of clean drinking water.
The Cemetery Brook Drain Tunnel is the centrepiece of Phase II in Manchester’s more than US$338m investment to address CSOs and improve Merrimack River water quality. The new drainage system will include a 3.2km-long, 3.6m internal diameter tunnel, constructed 9-24m below ground. It will have seven drop shafts along its length to receive flows.
“We are proud to leverage our engineering, water, and tunnel expertise to help the City of Manchester improve water quality and community health,” said Mark Fialkowski, president, North America Infrastructure for Parsons. “Our cutting-edge tunnelling knowledge and programme and construction management capabilities have delivered underground structures including storm and wastewater tunnels that keep water moving and help deliver clean drinking water where it is needed all around the world.”
The Merrimack River is the second largest river in New England. It begins in central New Hampshire and winds 188km south to the Atlantic Ocean in Newburyport, Massachusetts.
