Award or Recognition

GEI Completes Microtunnel Project

July 25, 2019

The GEI Plymouth, MI office recently completed the pipe design for a raw water intake project that runs under Lake Erie that set a new U.S. standard for longest microtunneled project. The new 3,947-ft pipeline will provide the City of Painesville, OH with an intake that is less susceptible to harmful algae blooms, provides redundancy with a secondary intake source, improves water quality, and reduces the amount of chemicals needed for treatment. The pipe design was part of a Value Engineering effort by Ric-Man Construction, Inc. that changed the project from a two-pass tunnel using rib and lagging and carrier pipe inside the primary liner to a one-pass tunnel by jacking in the pipe directly behind the MTBM. GEI also assisted Ric-Man with developing anticipated jacking forces to develop the capacity and number of required interjacks to install the pipe.  The GEI team was led by Michael Gentner with Bill Walton, Chia Tan, Charles Grant and Peter Trocha key members. GEI completed the project as a sub-consultant to Ric-Man. Learn more about the project here.