🗞️ OSHA Partners with Contractor on Manchester's Massive Tunnel Project
OSHA and Methuen Obayashi Joint Venture partner to ensure worker safety during construction of Manchester's $360 million Cemetery Brook Drain Tunnel—the city's largest public works project aimed at reducing sewer overflows into the Merrimack River.
The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has established a strategic partnership with Methuen Obayashi Joint Venture to promote workplace safety during construction of the Cemetery Brook Drain Tunnel Project in Manchester, New Hampshire.
The project represents Manchester's largest public works undertaking, with construction valued at approximately $360 million. The tunnel will modernize the city's drainage infrastructure by creating a 2.25-mile gravity-fed stormwater conveyance tunnel running 30 to 80 feet underground with a 12-foot inside diameter. The project is designed to reduce combined sewer overflows by 74% and improve water quality in the Merrimack River, which serves as a drinking water source for over 600,000 people.
Tunnel construction presents significant safety challenges, including exposure to hazardous gases, pressurized zones, confined space conditions, struck-by hazards, and excavation risks requiring proper shoring and protective systems. The partnership will focus on developing comprehensive safety and health management systems and training subcontractors on hazard recognition in construction environments.
The initiative emphasizes leadership engagement, accountability measures, worker participation strategies, and robust hazard identification protocols. This collaboration falls under OSHA's Strategic Partnership Program, which brings together employers, employees, labor organizations, and stakeholders to establish specific safety goals and performance measures.
Construction is expected to run from 2025 to 2028, utilizing tunnel boring machine technology to minimize surface disruptions. The project is part of Manchester's 20-year, $500 million Combined Sewer Overflow mitigation program mandated by a 2020 EPA consent decree.
Key Points
- Partnership Scope: OSHA and Methuen Obayashi Joint Venture collaborate on worker safety for Manchester's largest infrastructure project
- Project Scale: $360 million tunnel project spanning 2.25 miles, 30-80 feet underground with 12-foot diameter
- Safety Focus: Preventing exposure to hazardous gases, confined spaces, pressurized zones, struck-by incidents, and excavation hazards
- Environmental Impact: Expected to reduce combined sewer overflows by 74% and protect Merrimack River water quality
- Timeline: Construction from 2025-2028 using tunnel boring machine technology
- Regulatory Context: Part of EPA-mandated 20-year, $500 million sewer system improvement program
Primary Source Author: U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration
Primary Source: OSHA News Release 25-1534-BOS
Primary Source Link: https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/osha/osha20260113
Supplemental Links
- Cemetery Brook Drain Tunnel Project - City of Manchester
- OSHA Strategic Partnership Program
- Methuen Obayashi Wins Contract - Manchester Ink Link
- OSHA Confined Spaces Overview
- Tunnel Construction Safety Standards - DuraLabel
- Cemetery Brook Drain Tunnel - Tunneling Online
- EPA Combined Sewer Overflows
- Manchester Awards Contract - Union Leader
