MSD contractors working to build a massive underground tunnel to prevent wastewater and stormwater from overflowing and entering the Ohio River and Beargrass Creek have reached a significant milestone. The “working” and pump station shafts — which will carry workers and equipment underground — have reached their full depth of 220 feet below the surface.  

MSD’s project to build a tunnel 18 stories underground for wastewater and stormwater storage has also unearthed hundreds of millions of years of history.

MSD’s project to build a massive tunnel 18 stories underground to help keep millions of gallons of sewage out of the Ohio River and Beargrass Creek will be expanded to capture even more wastewater and stormwater overflow – and eliminate the need for a planned storage basin project.

Large cranes and construction sites are signs of progress for Louisville MSD as it significantly reduces sewer overflows into local waterways. On July 23, the MSD Board approved the utility’s 2018-19 fiscal year budget that includes more than $128 million for projects in the federal Consent Decree.

Work is underway to repair a broken sewer pipe that runs under the middle lanes of Broadway at South Preston Street. This three-layer brick sewer installed in 1866, has experienced similar failures in different locations as recently as 2015, 2014 and 2009. The five center lanes of Broadway have been blocked to traffic, leaving one eastbound and one westbound lane open in the area.

There is no disruption of sewer service in the area during the repair.

Work to repair a major sewer line running underneath downtown Louisville will continue as much of the city sleeps, beginning tonight as MSD closes streets to trench sections of Sixth, Seventh and Eighth streets immediately south of River Road and Washington Street from July 9 to 19. The trenching is needed to establish a “pump-around” that will allow MSD to empty a section of one of the city’s largest and most vital sewer lines, located under West Main Street, that is at risk of collapsing.

60-year-old sewer line under Main Street experienced cave-in last year

MSD has developed an innovative approach to repair a major downtown sewer pipe at risk of a cave-in. The repair plan will largely occur underground and prevent closing and excavating sections of West Main Street, a busy commercial and tourism corridor.

While MSD recently announced a $20 million repair to one of Louisville’s largest sewer lines under Main Street at risk of a cave-in, our crews serve thousands of smaller work orders per year across the community for other sewer cave-ins that often go unnoticed.

The Ohio River Sweep—one of the nation’s largest and longest-running environmental cleanup events — was held Saturday, June 16. River Sweep is sponsored by the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission (ORSANCO), and locally by MSD, Louisville Water Company and LG&E. MSD’s Rhonda Boyle-Crotzer coordinates Jefferson County’s leg of the sweep. Dane Anderson, Lynne Fleming, Kandyce Groves, Lanita Grimes, Loren Levitz, Robin Shaw and Dolly Smith were the hosts for seven locations along Beargrass Creek and the Ohio River.

NAME: 

Jacob L. Mathis, P.E. 

TITLE: 

Engineer II 

PROJECT: 

Waterway Protection Tunnel 

EDUCATION: 

Bachelor of Science, Civil Engineering 

Purdue University (West Lafayette, Indiana) 

EXPERIENCE: 

Louisville MSD 

Jacobi, Toombs and Lanz Inc. 

Mindel Scott & Associates, Inc 

HOW HE BECAME AN ENGINEER: