Doan? Done.
Closing the books on the Doan Valley Tunnel, Project Clean Lake’s third, means closing the deal more than $5 million under budget.
The signing of Board Resolution 68–22 on February 17th officially closed the books on construction of the Doan Valley Tunnel — and opened a new one on Lake Erie’s healthier future.
As a result of outstanding contract and project management, the Doan Valley Tunnel contract officially closed $5,776,044 under budget last week as the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District continues to advance its long-term commitment to our greatest natural resource.
The Doan Valley Tunnel, originally a $142 million project, is the third in a series of seven storage tunnels constructed as a part of Project Clean Lake, the Sewer District’s 25-year, $3 billion program to drastically reduce the amount of combined sewage entering local waterways annually.
“As the Sewer District celebrates 50 years of people, programs and progress, we are proud of the clean water investment we’ve made,” said Chief Executive Officer Kyle Dreyfuss-Wells. “In just the first decade of Project Clean Lake, we have reduced combined sewer overflows by 1.7 billion gallons annually, protecting Lake Erie, the Cuyahoga River and other local waterways.”
All three tunnels have been completed under budget; the Euclid Creek Tunnel (2017) and Dugway Storage Tunnel (2020) finished $3.6 million and $4.6 million under budget respectively.
The Sewer District has realized $505 million in savings since the inception of Project Clean Lake, a result of value engineering, strong contract and project management, and a highly competitive bidding environment.
Nearly 20 percent of this contract was awarded to Business Opportunity Program firms, representing minority-owned, woman-owned and small businesses located within a 11-county area including Cuyahoga, Geauga, Jefferson, Lake, Lorain, Mahoning, Medina, Portage, Stark, Summit or Trumbull Counties.
About Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs)
Greater Cleveland’s earliest sewers (primarily within the City and its inner-ring suburbs) are combined sewers. Built around the turn of the nineteenth century, these sewers carry sewage, industrial waste, and stormwater in a single pipe.
During heavy rains, there is a dramatic increase of water flowing through the combined sewers. When this happens, control devices may allow some of the combined wastewater and stormwater to overflow into area waterways — such as Lake Erie and Doan Brook — to prevent urban flooding. This event is called a combined sewer overflow, or CSO, and harms our clean water environment.
