It moves at a snail’s pace, but Alexandria’s tunnel boring machine is ready to drill through 100-foot-deep soil to prevent millions of gallons of combined sewage from flowing into the Potomac River, Hooffs Run, and Hunting Creek.
On Thursday, Alexandria’s leaders were on-hand for the unveiling and dedication of AlexRenew’s RiverRenew Tunnel Project. The $454.4 million project is the largest infrastructure project in the city’s history, and will result in a 12-foot-wide, two-mile-long waterfront tunnel, which will divert approximately 120 million gallons of sewage every year.
At the dedication, Mayor Justin Wilson lamented the loss of former Mayor Kerry Donley, an AlexRenew Board Member, who died on Wednesday.
“Our hearts are certainly heavy this morning as we gather without Kerry,” Wilson said. “I think if there was ever a more fitting, audacious undertaking as a tribute to Kerry, it’s what we’re doing right here. Kerry always believed that this was a city that could do big things that were audacious, and their impact in their planning and scale. And this certainly is a mind-blowing exercise for this community.”
The tunnel boring machine was built in Schwanau, Germany, and was given the name Hazel, after environmental activist Hazel Johnson.
“Today we honor Hazel Johnson’s dedication to a cleaner, safer environment for future generations through the dedication of this tunnel boring machine, which will build a brighter future for all Alexandria,” said Karen Pallansch, CEO of AlexRenew Enterprises. “This 380-ton custom-built tunnel boring machine will soon begin to dig. How fast does she move? She moves about as fast as a snail creeping along a stick by Hunting Creek, and yet, and yet she’s gonna leave behind a lasting legacy.”
The Virginia General Assembly mandated in 2017 that the project be completed by July 1, 2025. The groundbreaking for the project was held last fall.
“It’s a good day for all of us,” said Delegate Elizabeth Bennett-Parker (D-45). “We were able to get $40 million additional dollars in this year’s state budget for this project, which will help us see it to completion.”
The tunnel project is partially funded through a $321 million loan from the Environmental Protection Agency’s Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act and $50 million from the American Rescue Plan Act.
Alexandria leaders will be on-hand on Thursday, July 14, for the unveiling and dedication of AlexRenew’s RiverRenew Tunnel Project.
The $454.4 million project will replace Old Town’s 19th century combined sewer system with a tunnel system, sewer infrastructure and improvements to AlexRenew’s wastewater treatment plant — all to prevent 130 million gallons of combined sewage from flowing from four outfalls into the Potomac River every year.
The dedication will be held on July 14 from 9 to 11:00 a.m. at the Alexandria Renew Education Center and Meeting Space (1800 Limerick Street).
The Virginia General Assembly mandated in 2017 that the project be completed by July 1, 2025. The groundbreaking for the project was held last fall.
The tunnel project is partially funded through a $321 million loan from the Environmental Protection Agency’s Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act and $50 million from the American Rescue Plan Act.
Late last month, a RiverRenew tunnel boring machine was delivered to the project site.
Bon voyage! It's full-steam ahead for the #ALXTBM!
Our paparazzo captured this shot of her loading onto the barge that'll take her up the Chesapeake Bay.
Stay tuned to learn how to catch a glimpse of her arrival in Alexandria the week of July 4! pic.twitter.com/4in4Oq3Kyy
— Alexandria Renew Enterprises (AlexRenew) (@AlexandriaRenew) June 27, 2022
Virginia Senator Tim Kaine and Congressman Don Beyer (D-8th) took a quick break from work in Washington today (March 18) for a tour of Alexandria Renew Enterprises’ RiverRenew Tunnel Project.
The $454.4 million project will replace Old Town’s combined sewer system to prevent 120 million gallons of combined sewage from flowing into the Potomac River every year. The project is partially funded through a $321 million loan from the Environmental Protection Agency’s Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act and $50 million from the American Rescue Plan Act.
The Virginia General Assembly mandated that the project be completed by 2025. Alexandria, Lynchburg and Richmond all have CSO projects in development — the latter of which Kaine worked on when he was a member of the Richmond City Council in the 1990s.
“The project had started before I got onto the council, and it’s still going on,” Kaine said after the tour. “It’s such an expensive and massive thing to do… It’s really interesting to see how you solve your challenge here.”
After the tour, Kaine discussed infrastructure and job training at Northern Virginia Community College’s Woodbridge campus.
It was a busy fall week in Alexandria. Here’s the rundown.
Our top story this week was on a plan to completely close off the 100 block of King Street as a pedestrian-only zone. The plan has been in the works since 2019, and was put into action last year. ALXnow’s poll on the subject had very one-sided results, showing 91% (791 votes) in favor of a permanent change.
There was a momentous groundbreaking this week, as city leaders converged for the $454.4 million RiverRenew Tunnel Project. The project is a major overhaul to replace Old Town’s combined sewer system and prevent 120 million gallons of combined sewage from flowing into the Potomac River.
School violence has become a major issue in Alexandria, as videos of fights at schools are surfacing on the internet, there have been arrests at Alexandria City Public Schools, and protests in front of City Hall on Monday and Tuesday this week.
As for the Alexandria juvenile who was shot in the upper body at the McDonald’s in the Bradlee Shopping Center last week, police say that there have been no arrests yet.
Important stories
- AlexRenew breaks ground for massive Old Town RiverRenew project
- BREAKING: A bunch of student fights were recorded at George Washington Middle School and put on Instagram
- Last year’s Alexandria City High School class had the highest graduation rate and the lowest student dropout rate ever
- Union says low staffing within Alexandria Fire Department threatens to shut down a fire station
- Upcoming Alexandria City Council and School Board election forums announced
- School Board Chair Meagan Alderton says ACPS leadership will be challenged by high Board turnover
- First apartment building in massive Carlyle Crossing redevelopment starts pre-leasing
- DASH and city leaders celebrate launch of bus system overhaul
- Alexandria starts distributing COVID-19 booster shots
- City Manager lays out plan to push back on evictions in Alexandria
Top stories
- City looks to permanently ‘pedestrianize’ a block of King Street
- UPDATE: Alexandria man charged with homicide after stabbing at BJ’s Wholesale Club in Landmark area
- Total Wine is taking shape in Potomac Yard
- ALXnow’s top stories this week in Alexandria
- Man buys luxury car with fake driver’s license at Lindsay Lexus of Alexandria
- Protestors rally to return police to Alexandria schools, but officials say behind-the-scenes talks have stalled
- Man arrested for posting lewd photos of Alexandria stepsister on Twitter
- Firecracker shuts down Alexandria City High School football game
- Adoptable Chihuahua Dory only weighs 3.5 pounds
- Mayor Wilson: Potomac Yard construction delay ‘could have nothing to do with Metro station’
- Police: Juvenile shot at shopping center near Alexandria City High School
Have a safe weekend!
The groundbreaking for AlexRenew’s RiverRenew Tunnel Project was about as Alexandria as events get. The event was a who’s-who of current and former officials, complete with bagpipes, a poem about local sewage presented by the Town Crier, and even a cartoon mascot representing the boring machine getting ready to drill the largest infrastructure project in the city’s history.
The smiles and enthusiasm from city and state officials and organizations like the Potomac Riverkeeper Network were a marked departure from the occasionally contentious process that led to the $454.4 million RiverRenew project. Plans include replacing Old Town’s combined sewer system with a new sewer structure that will prevent 120 million gallons of combined sewage from flowing into the Potomac River.
“The Tunnel Project will include a two-mile-long underground tunnel, an open-cut pipeline, and other infrastructure to capture, store, and transport millions of gallons of combined sewage to AlexRenew’s wastewater treatment plant,” AlexRenew said in a press release. “There, these flows will be treated and cleaned prior to being returned to the Potomac River, reducing harmful overflow events from 70 to fewer than four each year.”
The city didn’t willingly enter into the project: the clean-up was mandated with a July 25, 2025 deadline by the state, over the objection of some local leadership. The project is currently scheduled to be finished on time.
“I’m proud of our role in bringing this great infrastructure investment today to life,” said Nancy Stoner, president of the Potomac Riverkeeper Network. “(T)his is critical infrastructure for protecting public health.”
Stoner said the eventual goal is to make the Potomac River swimmable again. Though later generations may not value the Herculean effort it took to get Old Town’s sewer system modernized, Mayor Justin Wilson said if it helps get the river into a cleaner state it will have been worth it.
“This investment prevents things from happening and provides an investment most people won’t really appreciate,” Wilson said. “People swimming in the Potomac years from now won’t really appreciate the investment. They’ll never see the investment, never understand it, but we will know, and we’ll know it was this generation that made the investment.”
Radhika Fox, assistant administrator for water for the Environmental Protection Agency, tied Alexandria’s experience in with nationwide efforts to improve water quality.
“This was one of the first loans I got to approve as part of the Biden-Harris administration,” Fox said. “One of the best bets we can make as a nation is to make these investments in our water infrastructure. It leads to environmental health, community vitality, that’s what this project is about. That’s a big, huge step Alexandria is taking today.”
A new state grant could help fund the city’s expensive, state-mandated RiverRenew project and offset some of the sewer rate increases for Alexandrians.
According to a press release, Alexandria Renew Enterprises (AlexRenew) — which runs the RiverRenew project — has been recommended to receive a $50 million grant to support construction on the project. The RiverRenew project is an overhaul of the city’s combined sewer system in Old Town that results in millions of gallons of sewage flowing into the Potomac River ever year.
The grant funding is part of the $411.5 million American Rescue Plan (ARP) dedicated to restoring water and sewer infrastructure.
“Investment in our water infrastructure is crucial to a thriving Alexandria, and we are greatly appreciative of the Governor, our local delegation, and state leaders for their support of this historic program,” said AlexRenew General Manager Karen Pallansch in the press release.
Pallansch added that the funding could offset some planned sewer rate increases. A rate increase by 6.9% was deferred last year due to coronavirus but was implemented earlier this year. In the press release, Pallansch said the sewer rate increases to fund the RiverRenew program could last for decades.
The ARP investments will still need to clear the General Assembly at a special session on Monday (Aug. 2).
“We feel very good about the prospects of the General Assembly agreeing to the Governor’s proposal,” said Pallansch. “The Northern Virginia legislative delegation has been an important partner in this effort.”
Massive infrastructure project RiverRenew has laid out a rough timeline for the ambitious three-pronged work throughout Old Town later this year.
The project is part of compliance with a 2017 Virginia law that requires Alexandria to overhaul the city’s combined sewer system, which has been dumping 130 million gallons of raw sewage into the Potomac River every year. The city is required to complete the overhaul by July 1, 2025.
In an email to ALXnow, RiverRenew Outreach Program Manager Sheeva Noshirvan outlined the schedule of the project moving forward.
Work at the AlexRenew site started the earliest, in May this year, and will be the last part of the project to finish — in July 2025.
The first community work for the RiverRenew project will be in October, when work starts on Royal Street for Outfall 2.
The full schedule is:
- Royal Street (Outfall 2) — starting October 2021, ending June 2024
- Pendleton Street (Outfall 1) — starting November 2021, ending October 2024
- Hooffs Run Interceptor (Outfalls 3 and 4) — starting December 2021, ending May 2023
- AlexRenew — started May 2021, ending July 2025.
RiverRenew is planning to host a series of virtual community listening sessions, where project staff meet with locals to discuss issues surrounding construction. The next meeting will be held Thursday, July 15, at 6 p.m., to discuss construction of a facility on Pendleton Street near Oronoco Bay Park. A meeting the next Thursday, July 22, will discuss a similar facility on Royal Street near Jones Point Park.
(Updated 4:40 p.m.) Alexandrians could see their wastewater bill go up an average $50 per year with a new rate adjustment aimed at funding the extensive RiverRenew program.
The adjustment has been in the works for a while but was delayed last year in light of the impact of COVID-19 on the local economy. The rate would be in place for two years to finance AlexRenew’s state-mandated efforts to overhaul the city’s sewer system.
“The rate adjustment proposal includes a 6.9 percent increase on July 1, 2021, and 6.5 percent increase on July 1, 2022,” AlexRenew said in a press release. “An average residential customer may see a difference of about $4 per month for each of these increases, or an average increase of about $50 per year. The rate adjustment is critical to funding the ongoing construction of the RiverRenew program, scheduled for completion in late 2025.”
The press release noted that the RiverRenew program is estimated to cost $615 million — a substantial increase over the $370 to $555 million price range cited in 2019.
“Wastewater infrastructure is essential to keeping our community healthy,” said Karen Pallansch, AlexRenew General Manager, in the press release. “Our shared investment helps ensure the waterways that connect us are improved and preserved for future generations.”
A public hearing is on the rate adjustment is scheduled Saturday, May 22, at 9:30 a.m.
Photo via Alexandria Renew Enterprises/Facebook
Surge in COVID-19 Deaths Occurred in January and February — “The Virginia Department of Health (VDH) is reviewing and accounting for COVID-19 deaths that occurred during the post-Holiday COVID-19 surge between January and the end of February. As a result, there have been recent increases in deaths reported in Alexandria’s COVID-19 dashboard. AHD and the City extend their sincere condolences to all community members who have lost someone during the course of the pandemic.” [City of Alexandria]
Resident Launches DrainALX Website on Flooding — “After Waynick’s first flood experience, she started talking to neighbors on her own street, letting them know that they should submit information through Alexandria 311, sign up for City alerts and more — and her communication efforts kept growing from there. Her email list now has more than 250 people across at least a dozen neighborhoods from the West End to North East Alexandria and Old Town.” [Alexandria Living]
AlexRenew Provides Details on Alexandria’s RiverRenew Project — “The project AlexRenew is undertaking now means reducing the millions of gallons of rainwater mixed with sewage that sometimes pollutes Alexandria’s waterways via four outfalls located around the City. These outfalls are at the eastern end of Pendleton Street, the southern end of Royal street, and two along Hooffs Run.” [Alexandria Living]
Front Boarding, Fares To Resume On Dash Bus In Mid-March — “Other regional bus systems, including Metro, Fairfax Connector and Arlington Transit, resumed front boarding and fare collection in early January.” [Patch]
Health Department Gives More Doses to Ladrey Senior Highrise — “The Alexandria Health Department (AHD) has allocated another 100 first doses to ARHA for seniors. In addition to the remaining residents at Ladrey who want to be vaccinated, ARHA is reaching out to seniors at other sites who have not yet been vaccinated to offer them the opportunity. The clinic will be held in the Community Room at the Ladrey Highrise on this Wednesday, March 3 from 1:00PM – 4:00PM.” [ARHA]
Elnoubi Out of Council Race — Abdel Elnoubi, the co-vice chair of the Alexandria Democratic Committee, is not running for City Council. Elnoubi, a project manager for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, filed to run in the upcoming democratic primary on Dec. 30, but told us that he’s now thinking about running for the School Board. [ALXnow]
Today’s Weather — “Sunny (during the day). High around 45F. Winds NW at 10 to 20 mph… Clear skies (in the evening). Low 31F. Winds light and variable.” [Weather.com]
New Job: School Classroom Monitor — “Positions start as soon as possible. Temporary/Contract – Through June 2021.” [Indeed]
The old Robinson Terminal North, once the abrupt northern end to the Old Town waterfront, is no more.
Demolition was mostly wrapped up this weekend after a quick tear-down, and the plan is to make the location part of the broader effort to reform Old Town’s sewer system called the RiverRenew program.
“Behind me is the Robinson Terminal North warehouse,” said Kelvin Coles, deputy design manager for the RiverRenew program, in a video. “Many residents and visitors will recognize this large steel building as the dividing landmark between Oronoco Bay park and Founders Park.”
The property a coal storage facility, along with other industrial uses, and ultimately a Washington Post shipping hub before it was decommissioned in 2013.
The property is adjacent to outfall 1, one of four sewer outfalls in Old Town that is the subject of the combined sewer system overhaul. On average, there are around 30 overflow events at outfall 1 alone. The plan is to build a diversion facility to direct the outflow into a tunnel.
Scene from my Sunday Morning Run: One less warehouse on Alexandria’s waterfront.
Robinson Terminal North is no more. pic.twitter.com/O28vdFjwPk
— Justin Wilson (@justindotnet) November 22, 2020
Construction on the new project is expected to begin in spring 2021 and continue through winter 2024. The facility will be mainly below ground once complete.
Above ground, the plan is to extend Pendleton Street into a promenade. The program is planned to feature benches and potential space for programming.
Pendleton Street Extension image via RiverRenew
