You May Get Lucky But You May Not. Why It Is Critical to “Sell” Your Tunneling Project to the Public during Planning

Communities across the country are faced with the reality of implementing large scale infrastructure projects in an urban environment, many of which require large conveyance systems. The underlying drivers are as diverse as the solutions and include mandated consent decrees to control CSO's & SSO's, drought mitigation efforts or simply the replacement of aging infrastructure. Many of these projects have turned and are turning to tunneling and trenchless applications. Inevitably these linear projects may extend over thousands of feet and have a broad range of socio-economic impacts affecting multiple stakeholders. At the same time, the public spotlight and scrutiny on these types of projects are ever increasing, particularly when the funding thereof requires public money. Properly “selling” your project to the public can determine how the success of the project is perceived.