Embedding the Line Deeper in Boston Harbor

Black & Veatch has provided engineering design and support for permitting and construction on a project that will upgrade submarine cable and transmission line in Boston Harbor.

Installation of a new underground and submarine transmission line enables future dredging work needed for import and export at one of New England’s busiest seaports.

This line supplies power to the second largest water treatment plant in U.S.

Embedding the line deeper in the ocean floor will allow the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to perform a massive dredging operation known as the Boston Harbor Deep Draft Navigation Improvement Project (BHDDNIP).

The BHDDNIP will deepen four shipping channels and adjacent sections of the harbor to allow larger, deeper draft vessels and container ships access.

“The HEEC project began in July 2017, with Black & Veatch providing the design from concept to execution,” said Bradford von Thaden, Black & Veatch project manager. “The timeline was incredibly tight and working underground and underwater in a busy metropolitan area and shipping port is inherently complex. It was critical that the project team remained flexible, viable and abreast of changing requirements.”

To install the new line under the 140-foot-deep harbor, Black & Veatch relied on a horizontal directional drill (HDD) to drill the water entry points and under the shipping channel, and a barge-mounted cable hydro plow to embed the line across the shallow section of Boston Harbor.