CARRIED OUT AS PART OF the federally mandated cleanup of Boston Harbor, the $85.4-million East Boston Branch Sewer Relief Project represented a major effort on the part of the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA), of Charlestown, to control combined sewer overflows entering the harbor. Upgrades to 4.5 mi of the aging interceptor system serving East Boston greatly increased the system's storage capacity and facilitated the delivery of wet-weather flows. Employing a combination of cured-in-placepipe (UPr) lining, microtunneiing, pipe bursting, and opencut excavation methods, the project has reduced the volume of combined sewer overflows entering Chelsea Creek and the inner part of Boston Harbor by 79 percent. Along with having to meet a court-ordered deadline for completion, project participants had to contend with the myriad challenges associated with a major design and construction project in a densely populated, heavily urban area.
展开▼
