"As part of a major expansion of the highway through Travis County, the Texas Department of Transportation is dropping the main lanes up to 60 feet below ground level from Holly Street to Airport Boulevard. Those sunken main lanes, parts of which could be covered with giant decks by the city of Austin, will allow a clear view across the highway for the first time since it opened in 1962."
"The lowered lanes will also serve as troughs for Austin's notoriously drenching rains when the sky opens up. So the 22-foot-wide tunnel will send that stormwater streaming to the Colorado River downstream of Lady Bird Lake. In spring 2026, the first of two "double shield" tunnel boring machines will be delivered from Germany. The manufacturer Herrenknecht will send the underground factories in pieces to be assembled on site in Austin."
Tall construction walls are blocking sound from machines digging deep drop shafts for a 6.5-mile drainage tunnel beneath I-35 and East Cesar Chavez Street. The tunnel will prevent I-35 from flooding by carrying stormwater in a 22-foot-wide conduit to the Colorado River downstream of Lady Bird Lake. As part of a major highway expansion, main lanes will be lowered up to 60 feet and could be decked, improving views across the corridor. Two Herrenknecht double-shield tunnel boring machines, arriving in spring 2026, will be assembled onsite and excavate while installing pre-cast concrete lining at depths up to 200 feet. Construction vibrations raise concerns about risks to nearby structures and environmental impacts.
Read at Austin Monitor
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]