(MINEOLA, NY) October 12, 2021 – Bay Park Conveyance Project partners, the Nassau County Department of Public Works (NCDPW) and New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) today renewed the call for entries to the 2021 Microtunnel Boring Machine (MTBM) Naming Contest for the Project. The Bay Park Conveyance Project is a partnership between NYSDEC and NCDPW to improve water quality and storm resiliency in Long Island’s Western Bays by upgrading existing wastewater management infrastructure. 

The practice of assigning a name to an MTBM is a widespread engineering tradition carried over from the 16^th Century when miners looked to St. Barbara – the patron saint of artillerymen and miners – for protection as they worked underground. Today, naming a MTBM in advance of construction is seen as a sign of good luck for the project ahead. 

The 2021 MTBM Naming Contest is open to students in grades 6 through 8 across the Bay Park Conveyance Project Corridor, which includes Baldwin, Bellmore, East Rockaway, Freeport, Hewlett, Island Park, North Merrick, Long Beach, Lynbrook, Oceanside, Rockville Centre, Seaford, Wantagh, and Woodmere. Participants can suggest an MTBM name through either a brief essay or a short video submission. Registration is open until Oct. 25, 2021, and submissions will be accepted until Nov. 1, 2021. 

The Bay Park Conveyance Project will reduce nitrogen pollution in the Western Bays by redirecting treated water from the South Shore Water Reclamation Facility to the Cedar Creek Water Pollution Control Plant (WPCP). From Cedar Creek, the treated water will be discharged approximately three miles offshore in the Atlantic Ocean via an ocean outfall pipe. A new pump station will be constructed at the existing South Shore Water Reclamation Facility. The Project includes two microtunneling segments - one extending two miles on the west side from the South Shore Water Reclamation Facility to Sunrise Highway, and another extending 1.6 miles on the east side from Sunrise Highway to the Cedar Creek WPCP. The Project is also repurposing an existing aqueduct beneath Sunrise Highway, using a technique known as sliplining. Western Bays Constructors Joint-Venture is the design-builder for the Bay Park Conveyance Project. Project work began in March 2021, and it is expected to be complete in 2024.

Visit https://www.bayparkconveyance.org/2021-mtbm-naming-contest for details about the Project and how to participate in the naming contest.