The Harbour Island Force Main is a critical pipeline that conveys 30% of the City of Tampa’s wastewater through downtown Tampa to the City’s wastewater treatment plant on the Port of Tampa. Constructed in 1951, the 54-inch pipeline’s age and lack of redundancy had to be addressed to avoid the catastrophic consequences of a failure. Under a progressive design-build contract, Wade Trim and Kimmins Contracting Corporation designed and constructed 2.3 miles of pipeline through a 7-year project that was completed in three phases: alignment study, design, and construction. As Lead Design Engineer, Wade Trim was responsible for route analysis and selection, design, permitting, and construction inspection services. The American Council of Engineering Companies of Florida (ACEC FL) recently honored the project with a 2025 Grand Award for Engineering Excellence.
Navigating the constraints of a thriving, downtown waterfront area, the pipeline was routed to minimize its length and impacts to residents, the environment, commercial properties, tourism, and Port Tampa Bay shipping and boating traffic and commerce. The challenging $83-million project included coordination with 20 stakeholders and six parallel projects. Construction was phased to maintain major sporting and public events including a Super Bowl, three Stanley Cup Finals, and the City’s annual Gasparilla Pirate Fest.
Pushing the boundaries of microtunneling, eight trenchless installations were completed including North America’s longest continuous subaqueous microtunnel at a 78-inch size. In addition, emergency rehabilitation of a corroded pipeline segment near the Tampa Convention Center was completed with structurally reinforced carbon fiber lining technology to reduce construction impacts, and a temporary bypass piping system that eliminated the need for expensive, diesel-powered bypass pumps.
Adaptive solutions were developed for complexities encountered during the project to safeguard major downtown real estate investments and infrastructure. After construction began, the pipeline route was modified to accommodate utility congestion and maintain commercial vehicular access to Port Tampa Bay.
Sustainable pipeline materials and coatings were widely incorporated to maximize service life, and redundancy was integrated into the system by providing access to the old pipeline if needed. The resulting modern, sustainable, and cost-effective wastewater pipeline will serve millions of residents and visitors and protect Tampa Bay for many decades to come.
Project members (L to R) Joe Williams (Kimmins) and Tim Palmer (Wade Trim), joined the City of Tampa’s Charlie Lynch, Brad Baird, John Zemina, and Eric Weiss, as well as Tom Wilson (Wade Trim) in accepting the Grand Award at ACEC Florida’s Award Banquet on February 7, 2025, in Orlando.
