Workers for Granite Construction and its joint venture partner will soon get their feet wet on the buildout of a $324.8 million tunnel project in Cleveland.
Granite and Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin-based Super Excavators will build the Big Creek Tunnel for the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District, according to an Oct. 1 news release from Granite.
Watsonville, California-headquartered Granite’s scope of work includes construction of 22,300 linear feet of 20-foot-diameter tunnel and 3,115 linear feet of ancillary tunnels. Other structures include adits, an overflow tunnel, a connecting tunnel and a dewatering tunnel.
The job will also entail multiple shafts, diversion structures, gate and screening structures, gate control vaults, consolidation sewers and an overflow box culvert. Associated sitework, restoration and utilities are also covered, according to the release. When complete, the structures will eliminate 550 million gallons of combined sewer releases annually.
According to NEORSD, the Big Creek Tunnel is part of Project Clean Lake, a $3 billion, 24-year program that kicked off in 2011 to improve water quality in the region and meet Clean Water Act standards. The structure will run for more than four miles through rock, 50 to 100 feet beneath Cleveland, Linndale and Brooklyn.
Big Creek Tunnel will be the last of seven large-diameter combined sewer overflow storage tunnels constructed under the program, which will reduce 4.5 billion gallons of combined sewer overflow from being released into Lake Erie and surrounding waterways.
“The scale and complexity of this project align directly with Granite’s strengths in large-diameter tunneling and shaft construction,” said Jim Nickerson, vice president of Granite’s tunnel division. “This is a major wastewater infrastructure project, and it will strengthen system performance and protect local waterways across Northeast Ohio.”
Public water infrastructure projects have been big business for prime contractors in 2026. Large awards include the $1 billion Ohio River Tunnel contract in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, for a joint venture of Lane Construction and Brayman Construction and a $518 million floodwater project in Virginia that FlatironDragados started construction on earlier this year.
The U.S. Department of Transportation in June also earmarked $1.86 billion for infrastructure damaged by storms, including water systems, following the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene in September 2024.
For the Big Creek Tunnel in Cleveland, construction is scheduled to begin in fall 2026. Granite expects completion in winter 2030.
