AlexRenew revealed the 380-ton machine which will dig the RiverRenew Waterfront Tunnel.
Photo by Susannah Moore for Alexandria Living Magazine
There is a new superstar in town and her name is Hazel. She was born in Germany on April 29 this year. She is nearly 14 feet 8 inches tall and weighs 380 tons.
Hazel is a subterranean tunnel boring machine (TBM) that will construct the Waterfront Tunnel, which is designed to help prevent more than 120 million gallons of combined sewage from polluting Alexandria’s waterways each year.
The 2-mile long Waterfront Tunnel will run along the Potomac River from outfall #1, at the end of Pendleton Street, through an outfall at the end of Royal Street where it will continue to the AlexRenew wastewater treatment plant in the Eisenhower East area. The tunnel is a part of the larger RiverRenew project (read more about the project here).
On Thursday morning, AlexRenew hosted a reception and name-reveal announcement for the new machine.
During his remarks at the reception, Mayor Justin Wilson recognized former Mayor Kerry Donley and member of the AlexRenew board, who passed away suddenly Wednesday evening. “If ever there was a more fitting , audacious undertaking as a tribute to Kerry, it’s what we are doing right here. Kerry always believe this was a city that could do big things that were audacious in their impact, audacious in their scale and this most certainly a mind-blowing exercise for this community,” said Wilson.
“While Alexandria eats, sleeps, works and plays, the AlexRenew team tirelessly and stealthily fulfills our essential mission, purifying 13 billion gallons of our cities wastewater every year,” said General Manager of AlexRenew Karen Pallansch. “Today we celebrate a significant milestone on the largest infrastructure project our city has ever seen. This once in a lifetime project will prevent over 120 million gallons of combined sewage from entering local waterways each year,” she continued.
As for Hazel: “She’s going to leave behind a lasting legacy," Pallansch said. "This legacy will start with the 2-mile long, 12-foot diameter tunnel she is going to expertly install in her wake. Every time we turn on a pump here at AlexRenew to water that tunnel, her legacy is going to live on. Every time anybody in the City of Alexandria interacts with a healthier Potomac [River], her legacy is going to live on."
The custom-built TBM took 18 months to design and manufacture. Since the 1800s, tunnel boring machines have traditionally been named after women, in honor of Saint Barbara, the Patron Saint of safety for miners and underground workers. AlexRenew let the community vote to select a name for the machine.
The machine is named Hazel after the late Hazel Johnson, an environmental justice advocate who fought to fix ecological issues in her Chicago community. She believed all people deserve access to a clean environment and clean water regardless of ethnicity, social standing or economic status.
“Today we honor her passion, her caring and her relentless drive to make our environment a better place for all hands in our community and in our nation,” remarked Pallanch.
Hazel was christened using a bottle of purified city wastewater by Mayor Wilson.
Photos from Thursday’s event are below. Find out more about Hazel and the RiverRenew project at RiverRenew.com.
Photos by Susannah Moore for Alexandria Living Magazine
Photos by Susannah Moore for Alexandria Living Magazine
Photos by Susannah Moore for Alexandria Living Magazine
Photos by Susannah Moore for Alexandria Living Magazine
Photos by Susannah Moore for Alexandria Living Magazine
Photos by Susannah Moore for Alexandria Living Magazine
Photos by Susannah Moore for Alexandria Living Magazine
Photos by Susannah Moore for Alexandria Living Magazine
Photos by Susannah Moore for Alexandria Living Magazine
Photos by Susannah Moore for Alexandria Living Magazine
Photos by Susannah Moore for Alexandria Living Magazine
Photos by Susannah Moore for Alexandria Living Magazine
Photos by Susannah Moore for Alexandria Living Magazine
Photos by Susannah Moore for Alexandria Living Magazine
Photos by Susannah Moore for Alexandria Living Magazine
Photos by Susannah Moore for Alexandria Living Magazine
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