HAMMOND | Red ribbons were in place at 173rd Center and Meadow Lane, though the reason for the celebration wasn't readily visible because it's all underground.

After two years of suffering dirt, digging, torn up streets and traffic obstruction, homeowners along 173rd Street east of Hohman Avenue turned out Tuesday to help U.S. Rep. Peter Visclosky, D-Ind., and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers celebrate the completion of the first phase of a project expected to reduce the impact from heavy rains

"We installed just over a mile of pipeline as part of this project," said Dean Button of SEH, lead design engineer on the Hammond overflow sewer improvement project. "It basically intercepts flow from two of the Hammond Sanitary District's pump stations that normally would have gone to the Little Calumet River just about every storm event."

The pipeline intercepts the overflow and sends most of it to the city's water treatment plant rather than into the river or homeowners' basements.

The project involved constructing a main interceptor from the Jackson Avenue pump station westward to the 173rd and Forest Avenue pump station and a second interceptor from Hohman-Munster pump station to the main interceptor.

"It's instrumental in protecting the environment and improving the quality of life for Northwest Indiana," Button said of the project. It won the 2008 Public Works Project of the Year award from the Construction Advancement Foundation of Northwest Indiana.

The project involved not only highway reconstruction along the Borman Expressway, but drilling under the river and excavations in excess of 20 feet, Button said. Despite the hurdles, the project came in without injury to workers and eight months ahead of schedule.

"Thank you for your patience," said Col. Vincent Quarles, commander of the Army Corps Chicago District. "I know it seemed like it took a while, but anytime you do a quality project, it requires an investment of time."

Visclosky congratulated the Army Corps on its work, but added he would be remiss in not crediting the efforts of Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr., who did not attend Tuesday's celebration.

While Visclosky contributed $3.9 million in federal funds to the project, the project was a city initiative propelled by McDermott, who contributed 1.8 million.

Homeowners Margaret Argentine and Cora Alcantar said as inconvenient as the construction was, they believe it already has shown some benefit. Neither woman complained of basement seepage this year though Alcantar said she was keeping in mind there hadn't been a lot of rain.

The problem formerly had been so bad she was forced to hire people to dig out her basement and waterproof it, Argentine said.