Facing unpredictably tough ground conditions, tunneling crews have worked all out this year to get Belfast’s $195-million, 9.4-kilometer-long stormwater storage tunnel system operational before Christmas. With work largely done, Northern Ireland Water (NIW) aims to recruit soon a design firm to handle its second deep-tunnel sewer project, likely to be just as tough to implement.

Built to capture combined sewer overflows (CSOs), the first project will go live in December, three months later than scheduled. Given the conditions, “That isn’t too bad,” says Bill Gowdy, NIW’s project sponsor.