LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB)-- A drill that's 412-feet long and 885,000 pounds took the power of several semis just to get it to Louisville.
Now, that drill needs a larger than life name. Metropolitan Sewer District Accounting Analyst Michael Fitzner was inspired to name it "bumblebee."
"The first thing that I thought of was Muhammad Ali, 'float like butterfly, sting like a bee,'" Fitzner said. "That's something that I was thinking this machine should be doing."
His coworkers loved it. MSD said the name makes perfect sense, especially when you consider the machine's parallels to "The Greatest." It's certainly a heavyweight. It will get its start in west Louisville, and it's going to need serious strength to get through miles of solid bedrock.
"That will grind the rock as the machine pushes against it," said project manager Jacob Mathis.
Eighteen stories under Louisville's surface, "Bumblebee" will dig a tunnel designed to prevent wastewater and stormwater from overflowing into Beargrass Creek and the Ohio River.
As it stands, when rain moves in, the current system can't always handle it, which can end with sewage spilling into the waterways.
"It's been a problem for decades," Mathis said.
Excavation on the tunnel is now set to begin by the end of November or beginning of December.
"So over the next four weeks, each of the components will be lowered through the shaft and into the tunnel, where it will be assembled," Mathis said.
After that, years of work are ahead for "Bumblebee" to prevent the sting over 400 million gallons of pollution. But like the man the drill is named, after the hard work is worth it, a lasting legacy will be left behind.
The tunnel is set to be operating by the end of 2020.
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