FAQs

LYHBeyond, the Blackwater CSO Tunnel Project, is the largest capital improvement project in the City of Lynchburg’s history and the most impactful project to date in protecting our cherished waterways.

The project will construct a nearly mile-long, 12-foot in diameter underground tunnel beneath the Blackwater Creek and Point of Honor Trail that will serve as a storage tank for up to 4.7 million gallons of excess combines sewer and stormwater during significant rain events, keeping that water from overflowing into our waterways.

Lynchburg Water Resources operates a wastewater collection system consisting of many miles of "combined" sewers. Approximately 4% of the City uses this combined collection system that carries both stormwater and wastewater to be processed and treated at the regional wastewater plant.

Combined sewer systems are designed to collect stormwater and wastewater in the same pipe. During dry weather, these pipes transport all of the wastewater to the Lynchburg Regional Water Resource Recovery Facility (WRRF), where it is treated to strict standards before being discharged to the James River. During periods of intense rainfall, however, the combined wastewater and stormwater volume in our combined sewer system can exceed the pipe's capacity, causing “combined sewer overflows” (CSOs), which harm our city’s waterways.

Since 1979, the City of Lynchburg has eliminated 115 of the 132 original combined sewer overflow points in the city, resulting in 93% less wastewater entering our streams and the James River. The LYHBeyond tunnel project will further reduce CSO volume, resulting in an overall reduction of 98% since the CSO program began.

The total cost of the LYHBeyond tunnel project is $103.9 million.

About half of the cost of this project ($50 million) is being paid for by the federal ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funds which were appropriated specifically for this project by the Virginia General Assembly.  The remainder of the funding will be provided through the Virginia Clean Water Revolving Loan Fund and/or other loans which will be financed by the City of Lynchburg through its sewer fund.

Lynchburg Water Resources (LWR) is overseeing this project as part of the City of Lynchburg’s CSO program. LWR has contracted with the engineering firm Stantec for the planning, design, and management for this project, and with Atkinson Construction for the construction of the tunnel.

There will be two main construction sites for this project — at the bottom of 7th Street and at the CSO 52 site on the Point of Honor Trail near Hollins Mills Road.

Construction will start at the 7th Street location, and for the first few months citizens can expect typical construction noise. Construction traffic will be diverted away from Downtown Lynchburg.

Later in the project, Lynchburg Water Resources will notify citizens in advance of the following construction impacts: Drill-and-blast excavation at the 7th Street site and a temporary closure of a section of Point of Honor Trail.