The Dolores Dispatch: What’s the Deal With McNeil?

What's Happening Under McNeil Drive?

Austin Water is tunneling underground for more than a mile and a half to install a new water transmission main pipe along McNeil Drive. We’re doing this to improve reliability for our customers in Northwest Austin, and the work is taking place underground to prevent the surface disruptions typically created by this kind of large infrastructure project. 

We started planning the installation of this new main after Winter Storm Uri in February 2021, when the demand on our system showed us that the existing pipe under McNeil needed expansion to keep water service reliable for our customers. The new 72-inch main will carry four times as much water directly from the Handcox Water Treatment Plant to fill reservoirs in the area and then branch off into smaller distribution mains to ultimately reach customers throughout Northwest Austin. Once the larger main is in service, the old pipe will be repurposed to support another part of the water distribution system. 

Who the Heck Is Dolores?

Installing this pipe with traditional “trench cut” methods of construction would likely require reducing McNeil to one lane for over a year. By using a Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) to drill an 18-foot-wide tunnel 52 feet beneath the surface instead, we’re able to complete this work with only a few temporary single-lane closures on McNeil, saving nearby residents, businesses and commuters from potential traffic nightmares. Crew members on the project team at Southland Contracting and engineering firm Black & Veatch have affectionately given the TBM the name Dolores, and during the construction process we’ll be sharing lots of updates about what she's doing under the street — invisible to the eye, but important as part of our work to deliver reliable water service for our customers even during extreme weather events. We’re excited about the way this construction approach allows us to strengthen our community’s water infrastructure without stopping the flow of life on the surface. 

The McNeil Drive Transmission Main project exemplifies Austin Water’s commitment to working today to prepare for tomorrow. We’re accomplishing this work in ways that minimize impacts to our community today so that the completed project will reduce the chance of service impacts in the future. Make sure to visit our McNeil Drive Transmission Main project page to learn more and sign up for email updates!