TAMPA, Fla. – The Tampa Water Department recently completed an extensive valve assessment, repair, and replacement project in the neighborhoods closest to Raymond James Stadium, including portions of Drew Park, MacFarlane Park, and Plaza Terrace.
This project began July 6, 2020 and ended December 18, 2020.
This six-month project was completed on-time despite the challenges posed by needing to schedule work crews around COVID testing at Raymond James Stadium, pre-election voting at nearby polling precincts, as well as Tampa Bay Buccaneer practice sessions and home games.
“Proactively replacing inoperable or failing valves ahead of a significant event like the Super Bowl makes sense,” said Eli Franco, Water Distribution & Consumer Services Manager. “Tampa has an aging infrastructure, with a distribution system that is over a 100 years old in certain areas, so these upgrades will benefit residents who live and work in the area for many years to come.”
The upgrades will help to minimize the number of households and businesses that would be impacted in the event of a water main break, or when the Water Department needs to conduct regular maintenance or repairs of the system.
Key Project Details
- This project required over 2,000-man-hours. The Water Department oversaw the work of three contractor crews who performed valve assessment, valve repair, valve replacement, and road restoration.
- Work crews assessed 806 water valves, ranging in size from 2 inches to 24 inches.
- Replaced and/or added 17 Tier 1 critical valves and eight Tier 2 critical valves.
- Removed a number of obsolete pipeline assets and reinforced the reliability of delivering water to key customers in the area including St. Joseph’s Hospital, St. Joseph’s Women’s Hospital, Raymond James Stadium, Jesuit High School, Hillsborough Community College, and Tampa Bay Elementary School which also serves as a City Emergency Response Center during a hurricane.
This work was part of the City’s PIPES (Progressive Infrastructure Plan to Ensure Sustainability) Program and represents our continued commitment toward improving Tampa’s infrastructure.
For more information about this project, please visit our project site at tampa.gov/water/projects/valve-renewal-project or call our Utilities Call Center at (813) 274-8811.
See all road closures at www.tampagov.net/RoadClosures.