The Northeast Boundary Tunnel (NEBT), the biggest component of DC Water’s Clean Rivers Project in Washington, D.C., will be a sewer tunnel that will increase the capacity of the District’s sewer system, significantly mitigating the frequency, magnitude and duration of sewer flooding and improving the water quality of the Anacostia River.

The NEBT will run 26,700 feet from just south of Robert F. Kennedy Stadium to the intersection of Rhode Island Avenue NW and 6th Street NW. It will be aligned to intersect the existing chronic flood areas along Rhode Island Avenue NW. In times of flooding, the tunnel will receive flows from the sewer system captured by diversion facilities and convey them to DC Water’s Blue Plains Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant. 

The NEBT project will also include the construction of ventilation control facilities, stormwater inlets, and green infrastructure. Once it is connected to the other Clean Rivers Project tunnels, the NEBT will help reduce combined sewer overflows to the Anacostia River by 98 percent and the chance of flooding in the areas it serves from about 50 percent to seven percent in any given year. ​

Contractor: The Lane Construction Corporation (U.S. subsidiary of the Webuild Group)