Newburgh earns state award for $43 million sewer upgrade project
Newburgh’s sewer overhaul won state engineering honors after crews used microtunneling to cut Hudson River overflows and open the way for Hillside redevelopment.
Newburgh’s $43 million North Interceptor Sewer Project earned a 2026 Engineering Excellence Award from the American Council of Engineering Companies of New York, giving the city outside recognition for work that already changed how its sewer system handles heavy rain and wastewater.
The project replaced about 8,600 linear feet of interceptor sewer using microtunneling, a method that let crews move beneath streets and built-up areas with far less disruption than open-cut excavation. That mattered in Newburgh’s riverfront and historic districts, where utility work can be especially disruptive and politically sensitive. It also sped restoration in the historic district after construction was finished.
City and state officials said the upgrade was completed in October 2024 on budget and on schedule. Governor Kathy Hochul announced the project’s completion on October 8, 2024, and said it was funded by more than $31 million in grants and interest-free financing, including $28 million in grants and $3 million in interest-free financing. State officials also described it as the first clean water infrastructure construction project in New York State completed with funding in part from the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
The work was designed to improve the performance of Newburgh’s nearly two-mile north interceptor sewer and help reduce combined sewer overflows into the Hudson River by roughly 56 million gallons a year. DEC filings say the improvements increased system capacity to 56 million gallons per day, a key step in a long-term control plan the city is carrying out under a consent order with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.
For Newburgh, the sewer project is about more than pipes and pump capacity. City planning materials say the realigned underground infrastructure will support redevelopment and restoration of The Hillside, a roughly 144-acre section between the Hudson River and downtown commercial corridors that was damaged during the urban renewal era. The city has said the project is one of the most significant clean water projects in New York State.
The work also brought visible changes to the East End, where streetscape improvements narrowed over-wide streets, reduced impervious surfaces and added parking in places that previously had none. For a city still working through a 15-year wastewater control plan, the award recognized a project that delivered both engineering gains and day-to-day benefits on the ground.
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