The blasting has begun.
Contractors began blasting underground in downtown Akron last week as workers continue building a giant underground tunnel called the Ohio Canal Interceptor Tunnel as part of the city’s massive sewer project.
“We’re to the point where the rock is too hard to dig, so now we have to do controlled blasting,” said Heather Bolestridge, communications manager for Akron Waterways Renewed, the name given to the sewer project.
The city earlier sent letters to property owners and residents near the two blasting sites to notify them that blasting with explosives might be necessary.
The overall sewer project, estimated to cost more than $1 billion, is designed to curb sewage overflows into local waterways.
The underground tunnel, 27 feet in diameter, will stretch 6,240 feet from off West Exchange Street to near the Mustill Store Museum, off West North Street, west of North Howard Street, at depths of 70 to 160 feet.
People within a half mile of blast sites may hear a sound similar to fireworks for 2 to 5 seconds and feel vibrations during blasting, Bolestridge said.
Blasting began Nov. 8 in one of the two shafts in the construction area along the Akron Innerbelt at West Market Street.
Blasting will take place once or twice per day from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday over the next four months.
Blasting in the other shaft in this construction area began this week. It will take place once every week and a half between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m., also over the next four months.
Blasting in the other construction site, near Exchange Street and South Main Street, is scheduled to begin in early January.
Blasting at this site is expected to take place every week and a half between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. for six months.
Before each blast, the contractor alerts people with five long whistles five minutes before a blast, five short whistles one minute before a blast and one long whistle after the blast.
“When people hear ‘blasting’ and when people hear ‘explosives,’ those are words of concern,” Michelle DiFiore said in an earlier Beacon Journal story. “These are people who are certified with explosives. There are a whole lot of regulations that go along with bringing the explosives into the community.”
For blasting updates and more information about the project, go online to www.akronwaterwaysrenewed.com and click on the OCIT tab.
Beacon Journal staff writer Rick Armon contributed to this report. Katie Byard can be reached at 330-996-3781 or kbyard@thebeaconjournal.com.