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Needham team pursues MBTA review for Pollard geothermal routing under tunnel
Summary
Design team has submitted materials and paid the MBTA fee; Bond (design consultant) is leading engineering review and the town expects a report within one to two months on feasibility and potential horizontal‑drilling approaches.
Committee members asked about permission and engineering detail for routing geothermal piping under the MBTA tunnel. Project staff said the MBTA fee has been paid and the matter is with MBTA engineering; Bond (the design firm) is leading the coordination and the project expects a report in one to two months. "We've asked the MBTA if they have any construction documents from the original construction of the tunnel," a staff member said, adding that Bond has horizontal‑drilling capability to avoid moving large equipment through the tunnel.
Staff cautioned that getting large equipment into the tunnel could be difficult and noted existing license agreements (town agreements from 1956 and a later license related to tunnel graphics) that the team expects will guide negotiations. Committee members asked for regular updates and recommended pursuing parallel paths to avoid schedule surprises.
