Just a few meters from the Río de la Plata, very close to the domestic airport where planes frequently take off and land, an underground tunnel project is under construction. This is the second outlet of the arroyo Vega in Bushi, which will cross under Metro Lines B and D and La Pampa Street. When completed, it will alleviate flooding in the capital's Agronomía district, Villa Ortúzar district, Parque Chas, Colegiales district and Belgrano district.
Elisa, a giant hydraulic tunnel excavator from Germany, has now bored 600 metres from the north of Costanera Norte into the city centre, accounting for 10 percent of the entire tunnel length.
The tunnel runs through the city from west to east from underground. When it rains heavily, it will solve the problem of flooding the streets. Twelve years ago, faced with the saturation of the drainage system at that time, the City of Boo decided to build another sewer. Construction of the new sewer began in 2017 and the end of the entire project is expected to be in August 2019.
Franco Moccia, Minister of Urban Development and Transportation of the City of Buenos Aires, explains: "The tunnel has crossed Lugones and continues to advance to the Chas Park area, during which time different obstacles such as Metro Lines B and D and the underground channel of the Water Company (AySA) must be overcome. "Once the tunnel is completed, it will double the drainage capacity of the area, and the 315,000 residents living in this area will not be afraid of every heavy rain." ”
The second part of the sewerage project has a total length of 8.4 km. The project is being carried out simultaneously in two parts, with a main road of 5.9 km, which is being excavated by tunnel excavators. It starts in Costa Nera and goes all the way to Chas Park. There, it will be connected to another tunnel. The second section, 2.5 kilometres, is being carried out using a small excavator from New York Street to Helguera Street (Agronomía, Anglomia District).
The project needed to be divided into two parts, and different types of excavators were used because the Vega River was triangular and gradually shrinking to the west.
The project also includes the construction of 9.4 km of branch lines and drainage canals to transport rainwater to the pipes.
The construction cost of the entire infrastructure project is included in the Buenos Aires Flood Risk Management Assistance Program, which amounts to US$326 million, with a loan of US$200 million from the World Bank and another US$126 million borne by the Municipality of Buenos Aires. Of that amount, $135 million was used to build the tunnel, with contractors including Roggio, Super Cemento, and Cartellone.