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Tunneling 200 Feet Underneath Connecticut For Cleaner Water, At A Cost

A giant, miles-long tunnel is about to be drilled hundreds of feet beneath Connecticut’s capital. This subterranean project will take years, cost hundreds of millions of dollars, and the hope is, result in cleaner water for the Connecticut River and Long Island Sound.

The size is impressive. About 200 feet below ground will lie a tunnel, 18 feet in diameter that’s drilled through rock -- and extending about four miles.

Overlooking a giant shaft in Hartford that’s getting deeper and deeper -- Susan Negrelli, director of engineering for the Metropolitan District, which oversees water for the region, said pretty soon, a giant drill will make its way underground -- followed by tons and tons of machines.

“It’s a small city that you put down there in the tunnel. It has to have its own air, its own clean water, its own dirty water,” Negrelli said. “There’s electricity. Hydraulics.”

Negrelli spoke on the construction site...