Project Wraps for Robbins Rock Machine ‘Driller Mike’
Overcame Hard Rock Conditions
On Oct. 4, onlookers watched as a 12.5-foot-diameter Robbins Main Beam TBM completed its epic journey. The TBM, christened “Driller Mike” after local rapper and activist Killer Mike, overcame extremely hard rock conditions along a curving 8.0 kilometer (5.0 mile) tunnel to bolster the city of Atlanta’s water supply.
The new tunnel brings the Atlanta Water Supply Program one step closer to increasing the city’s water capacity to between 30 and 90 days depending on daily usage. “Our schedule for the project was very aggressive, but the project team stayed together to overcome issues related to the mining of the tunnel,” says Bob Huie, project director for the PC Russell JV, the construction manager at risk (CMAR) for the project.