This morning AlexRenew celebrated the RiverRenew project, which is now fully operational and ready to prevent 120 million gallons of harmful combined sewer overflows from polluting the Potomac River and its tributaries each year. This marks a major step toward cleaner, healthier waterways for the region.

RiverRenew is the largest infrastructure project in Alexandria’s history and includes the construction of massive underground infrastructure, including a 130-foot-deep, 2.2-mile-long tunnel along the waterfront: installation of a six-foot-wide interceptor sewer pipeline; development of two large diversion facilities, and creation of a 12-story underground pumping station at AlexRenew’s wastewater treatment plant. The massive environmental initiative took an unprecedented eight years to complete; similar projects often take 15 or more.  

Image

Description

People celebrate the ribbon cutting of RiverRenew

“We made a commitment to our community in 2017 to solve this long-standing environmental issue, and we’ve worked tirelessly every day since to stand by it,” says General Manager and CEO Justin Carl. “Despite a pandemic, unprecedented inflation, and several international conflicts that each threatened the project’s costs and timeline, we’ve managed to complete RiverRenew in record time and on budget.”

In addition to these external factors, each component of the enormous effort presented unique design challenges for the project team. AlexRenew used a 15-foot-diameter, 465-foot-long tunnel boring machine, named Hazel, to complete the tunnel work. Hazel and crews tunneled more than 2 miles, 100 feet below the surface, passing deep beneath the Potomac River for about half of their journey. To construct the Hooffs Run Interceptor, crews used a combination of open-cut construction and a microtunnel boring machine to make way for huge pieces of sewer pipe to be installed. Finally, when the tunnel system was complete, crews began construction of a state-of-the-art pumping station that descends 12 stories underground in the heart of AlexRenew’s active wastewater treatment plant.

As construction of RiverRenew progressed, AlexRenew has also made a significant impression on the Alexandria community — engaging with residents early and often throughout the project, providing its RiverRenew children’s book series to local schools, and making major investments into several community spaces. At African American Heritage Park, crews planted 4,000 native plants and trees and installed a new path and wayfinding signage that shares the legacy of African American History in Alexandria. Just north of that location, crews built a brand-new pocket park for residents to enjoy. And at the waterfront in old town Alexandria, AlexRenew unveiled a new public promenade, connecting the community with a healthier Potomac River. These efforts reflect AlexRenew’s commitment not only to protecting public health and community waterways but also to honoring Alexandria’s cultural heritage and encouraging the city’s growth.

“With RiverRenew complete, we leave behind a lasting legacy for our city,” said Carl. “Our waterways, our environment, and our community will benefit from this important environmental initiative that will help deliver a fishable, swimmable Potomac River for future generations.”

This spring, crews completed final testing of the massive 20‑MGD tunnel dewatering pumps and the 45‑MGD wet‑weather pumps housed within the new 12‑story underground pumping station. On July 1, when the system officially went live, AlexRenew hosted a ribbon-cutting celebration outside the facility to mark the operational milestone and honor the crews, officials, partner organizations, and community members who helped bring the RiverRenew vision to life.

“RiverRenew wouldn’t have been possible without members of the Traylor-Shea Joint Venture, Kokosing and Jacobs; our Owner’s Advisor Team led by Brown and Caldwell and Schnabel; EPC, our resident engineering team; our numerous subcontractors, and suppliers; City of Alexandria staff; and last, but not least, the AlexRenew team,” said Carl. “Our incredible partners at the EPA; the Virginia General Assembly and Virginia Resources Authority; DEQ; the Potomac River Keeper Network; our Stakeholder Advisory Group members; AlexRenew’s Board of Directors and our former General Manager, Karen Pallansch; council-board work groups, Fairfax County, and the Alexandria City Council also played a critical role in ensuring the success of this monumental effort for our community.”