January 9, 2025 — Lynchburg Water Resources

Drill-and-blast excavation to begin at 7th St. construction site

LYNCHBURG, Va. — Starting on Monday, January 13, Lynchburg Water Resources (LWR) contractor Atkinson Construction will begin the drill-and-blast phase of construction for the Blackwater CSO Tunnel project at the main project site located at the bottom of 7th Street in Downtown Lynchburg.

The Blackwater CSO Tunnel, which will range from 70 to 120 feet beneath the Blackwater Creek, will be constructed through solid rock using drill-and-blast excavation. This process is done by drilling multiple holes into existing rock, placing blasting material in the drilled holes, detonating the material, and removing the rock. Each blast will be preceded by a series of air horn blares. Drilling-and-blasting will start at the 7th Street construction site and work its way toward the CSO 52 site.

The first test blast, using just 25 percent of the blasting material of a typical blast, is scheduled for Monday, January 13, but delays are possible. The test blast and all future blasts will be preceded by a series of 5 short air horn blares 5 minutes before detonation and another series 1 minute prior. After each blast, a long air horn blare will signal all clear, followed by another long blare to signal to crews that the tunnel shaft is safe to enter. Drilling-and-blasting will occur within a 38-foot in diameter shaft already constructed at the 7th Street work site. The shaft will be covered to mitigate noise and to keep the blasted rock contained. The amount of blasting material will be increased with future blasts.

For the next two months, there will be one to two blasts per week. Starting around Spring 2025, blasts will shift to two per day. The deeper into the tunnel that excavation occurs, the less noise the public will hear when blasts occur. The total drill-and-blast phase of the project is expected to last 19 months, until July 2026.

The Blackwater CSO Tunnel, called LYHBeyond, is the largest capital improvement project in Lynchburg’s history and the most impactful project to date in protecting Lynchburg’s cherished waterways. A capstone of the City’s 45-year Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) Program, this project is constructing a nearly mile-long, 12-foot diameter underground tunnel beneath the Blackwater Creek that can store up to 4.7 million gallons of combined sewage/stormwater during heavy rain events, preventing that sewage from overflowing into the Blackwater Creek. The CSO Program, with the tunnel’s completion in 2027, will result in a 98 percent reduction in sewage overflow volume from when the program began in 1979.

The 7th Street construction site next to the Blackwater Creek is covered with snow January 7, 2025. Drill-and-blast operations start January 13 at the site.