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Sewer Replacement Project Set To Begin

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By KATHY STEELE

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 3, 2008

TAMPA - Few people attended a series of public meetings this year about the city's $19 million sewer replacement project on 12th Street stretching from Sulphur Springs to East Tampa.

But heads up, heavy machinery is around the corner.

Surveyors have plotted buried cable and water lines in Seminole Heights, striping orange and blue lines, and poking flags in rights of way and atop manhole covers at intersections beginning with Park Circle and heading up Hilton and Crenshaw streets before doglegging onto 13th Street.

Barricades, detour signs and piles of sand have been hauled in and well points drilled on Park in preparation for removing excess groundwater. Tunneling to install new sewer pipes is tentatively scheduled to begin Monday.

"We've been doing our best to let people know what's going on," said Scott Simpson, a field ambassador for CH2M Hill Constructors.

He and the other blue-vested ambassadors will be out and about ready to answer the inevitable questions: What's going on? How long will workers be in front of my house? Will my driveway be blocked?

As each phase moves along, neighbors will find leaflets hanging from their doorknobs explaining what comes next - from surveying to tree trimming to trench digging.

Christie Hess, head of crime watch for the Old Seminole Heights Neighborhood Association, said a couple of residents have complained that they weren't aware of the project.

Hess said she plans to work with the city to deliver progress reports to those on the association's e-mail list.

The 4-mile route is expected to take nearly a year to complete. Among the final segments, the digging will reach about 40 feet under the Hillsborough River to hook up the pipes on Park to the Sulphur Springs pumping station at 12th and Nome streets.

As work begins in Seminole Heights, preparations began last week on a second segment that starts at 19th Street between Mohawk and Hillsborough avenues, near the McDonald's restaurant.

That route will head south toward East Tampa, making its way to the intersection of 26th Street and 29th Avenue.

Replacement became critical after two major sewage breaks in two years along the 12th Street route. City officials said it was a health and safety issue.

In 2004, a burst pipe near the Sulphur Springs pumping station flooded waste along the 7800 block of 12th. The station, off East River Cove, is one of four feeder stations collecting and pushing waste to the Hooker's Point wastewater treatment plant from as far north as New Tampa.

Two years ago, a pipe broke at North 12th and East Norfolk Street in Seminole Heights.

The new pipes will replace defective 1980s pipes sold by a company that since has been sued out of business.

The machinery for digging trenches will require that overhanging trees be cut back and roots will be cut to make room for the 42-inch pipe. City arborists will oversee tree trimming.

As the pipe is installed, crews will follow to patch the street. Once the pipe is tested, streets will be paved curb to curb. Any brick streets torn up will be restored.

Reporter Kathy Steele can be reached at (813) 259-7652 or ksteele@tampatrib.com.

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