LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Louisville’s Muhammad Ali could go the distance if need be, and a machine nicknamed after him has just done that, far below the city.

The 900-ton boring machine, nicknamed “Bumblebee,” has drilled through bedrock for more than a year. Now, 200 feet underground, it reached it’s 4- mile destination for MSD. 

The machine has broken into another tunnel near Grinstead Avenue and Lexington Road. Even crew members who travel the country doing projects such as this were impressed when there was light at the end of the tunnel.

“Slowly, you see the cutter head exposed, rotating, this big massive steel cutter head," operations manager Jesse Salai said. "It’s really something to see. You feel like you’re watching a cartoon or something."

The "Bumblebee" began its work early in 2019 in an effort to give the city more capacity to prevent sewage and stormwater overflow during heavy rains. The Waterway Protection tunnel can hold up to 55 million gallons for treatment by the MSD plant.

Now the work begins on putting finishing touches on the tunnel, including a 12-inch coating of concrete will encase its 20-foot diameter. And getting the Bumblebee back to the surface is no easy task.

“To give you some perspective, it’s about 415 feet in length and weighs nearly 900,000 pounds,” operations manager Alston Noronha said.

That job will take six to eight weeks.

Crews worked around the clock on the tunnel. It runs under the Ohio River and back and curves through Spaghetti Junction. It’s a project to help meet federal guidelines regarding runoff into the Ohio River and Beargrass Creek. The project is expected o be operational sometime next year.

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