Underground breakthrough marks a major step in €114m project in Athlone - Water Magazine

Underground breakthrough marks a major step in €114m project in Athlone - Water Magazine

The multimillion-euro Athlone Main Drainage Scheme, in Athlone, Ireland, has hit another key milestone with the completion of a second underwater tunnel beneath the River Shannon, linking the town’s sewer network from east to west. Guided by expert diving and tunnelling crews, the giant tunnel boring machine was lowered into an eight-metre-deep launch shaft on the river’s east bank. It carved its way through gravel and rock, beneath the riverbed…