Granite Wins US$324m Ohio Water Infrastructure Award

As centuries-old water infrastructure in major US industrial hubs continues to deteriorate, restoration projects present extended pipelines of work for construction contractors.

Declining water quality and damage to local environments as existing infrastructure fails and floods are increasing the pressure on cities to launch full-scale, underground system overhauls in place of surface-level repairs. 

Project Clean Lake, a programme launched in 2011 by the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District (NEORSD) to rehabilitate Cleveland’s water system, provides a template for the potential long-term, high-capital projects a national overhaul could procure. 

In a milestone for the programme, US civil construction company Granite Construction has won a US$324m contract to bore and construct the Big Creek Tunnel: a large-scale deep tunnel for the storage of wastewater.

It will be the last of seven storage tunnels to be installed for the programme, and will help to manage the 4.5bn gallons of annual combined sewer overflow (CSO) previously deposited into the region’s waterways. 

“This is a major wastewater infrastructure project,” says Jim Nickerson, Vice President of Granite’s Tunnel Division.

“It will strengthen system performance and protect local waterways across Northeast Ohio.” 

A joint venture between Granite and Super Excavators, the four-year contract exists within a 24-year programme timeline with over US$3bn invested and awarded – an illustration of the scale, complexity and capital major infrastructure intervention required across the US. 

The demand for US water infrastructure

The combined investment demand produced by the US’ current water infrastructure totals US$1bn, the Environmental Protection Agency estimates.

Multiple factors are exerting simultaneous pressure on the US’ existing systems, driving the crisis: 

• Ageing pipes, treatment facilities and distribution networks, each requiring rehabilitation or full replacement
• Increasingly intense rainfall from climate pressure, exposing systems’ capacity limitations
• The development and expansion of surrounding communities, leading areas to outgrow their existing infrastructure 
• A consistent need to ensure water quality meets regulatory standards 
• Insufficient investment through the 20th century, leading to accumulated deterioration 

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has estimated a combined US$1tn investment is required to thoroughly modernise national water infrastructure, as complex underground projects are required to carry out full replacements and expansion of systems that are inherently unsafe and undersized. 

"Clean water infrastructure is essential to the economic vitality of all our communities," says Kyle Dreyfuss-Wells, CEO of NEORSD. "Maintaining existing and building new infrastructure, such as the Sewer District's Big Creek Tunnel project, is at the heart of protecting public health and the environment. The Big Creek Tunnel is the final tunnel of 'Project Clean Lake' and will capture more than 550 million gallons of combined sewage annually, protecting Lake Erie." 

Project Clean Lake was launched after Federal government intervention, as Ohio’s Sewer District was found to be violating the 1972 Clean Water Act.

Reducing and containing CSO demands construction on a major scale to replace and modernise Cleveland’s storage tunnels, introduce green infrastructure measures to handle excess stormwater, and expand outdated treatment plants. 

Rather than treating individual failures in isolation, it takes a long-term systems approach to improving the performance of the region’s wastewater network. 

What water infrastructure requires from contractors

The BCT project demonstrates the complexity involved in delivering this kind of long-term infrastructure. 

The tunnel requires the installation of multiple large structural assets designed to capture sanitary sewage and stormwater overflow, demanding specialist excavation and shaft construction.

Engineering teams will deploy specialised tunnel-boring machines to execute long-distance underground excavation, while limiting disturbance to local environments and urban neighbourhoods on the surface.

The next generation of water infrastructure will therefore require not only more capital, but increasingly sophisticated approaches to planning, risk management and delivery.  

“The scale and complexity of this project align directly with Granite’s strengths in large-diameter tunneling and shaft construction,” says Jim. 

With over a century of experience delivering major civil engineering projects, Granite will partner with Super Excavators to combine the two companies’ tunnelling expertise.

Collaboration of this kind plays a key role in Granite’s overall excellence strategy. Over the past decade, the firm has carried out multiple major Collaborative Delivery infrastructure projects, wherein integrating perspectives facilitate innovative solutions and streamline risk management.

“Without collaboration, risk can be a massive and dangerous blind spot,” says Bill McGowan, Vice President of Business Development at Granite, writing on LinkedIn. 

Across its years of operation, Granite has developed a skillset suited to complex water infrastructure deliveries like the BCT project, positioning it to play a role as the market evolves. 

Beyond representing a closing chapter for Project Clean Lake, the Big Creek Tunnel project offers a case study of the size, timeline, sophistication and capital investment successive projects to modernise the US water system will require.

Granite’s key partners 

Obayashi

Founded in Japan in 1892, Obayashi has more than 130 years of construction experience and a longstanding US presence spanning tunnels, civil infrastructure and major public works. Its North American strategy has increasingly focused on water infrastructure, including the acquisition of MWH in 2023. It has partnered with Granite on several major US infrastructure projects, including the US$279m South Hartford Conveyance and Storage Tunnel in Connecticut. More recently, Granite and Obayashi have continued their joint-venture work across major federal infrastructure programmes. 

Archer Western 

Archer Western is a major US heavy-civil contractor and part of The Walsh Group, with experience delivering complex infrastructure across transportation, water and public works. The company has worked with Granite through multiple major joint ventures, including the US$849m IH-35E project in Texas and the South Capitol Street Corridor project in Washington, DC. 

Kiewit

Kiewit is one of North America’s largest construction and engineering organisations, with decades of experience across water treatment, storage and conveyance. Its water business combines engineering and construction capabilities. Granite and Kiewit have previously collaborated on major design-build and construction-management projects, including Houston’s US$1.28bn light-rail expansion and Utah’s Mountain View Corridor. The latter was delivered through a CM/GC model, with Granite, Kiewit and W.W. Clyde working alongside the owner and designers during design and constructability phases.