4 minute read
Fort Lauderdale Update
Almost a year has passed since the city completed construction of our most significant infrastructure project in decades – the installation of a new seven-mile sewer pipe through the core of the community. It resolved the problem of the aging, brittle main that had repeatedly broken.
This was quite an accomplishment – completed in record time and under budget. It also ensured reliable wastewater services to our residents for generations to come. Still, I often am asked what the city is doing to improve our infrastructure.
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The fact is that the city continues to make phenomenal progress on building a water, sewer and stormwater system that will last well into the future and is resilient enough to withstand the world’s changing climate. Here’s a look at what has been going on over the past year.
Work to prevent infiltration of stormwater into the sewer system in the Rio Vista basin is 90 percent complete. Infiltration has posed a major burden for the sewer system by increasing flows and pump usage following heavy rains. This was a large undertaking, costing $7.8 million.
We recently completed the upgrade of pump station A-7 near Southwest 2nd Street and Southwest 1st Avenue at a cost of $2.6 million. These upgrades will significantly increase the capacity of the wastewater system downtown. Also completed is a new 24-inch sewer main along Bayview Drive, a new 16-inch sewer main along Las Olas Boulevard and a new 18-inch sewer main across the New River from Northeast 9th Street to North Birch Road.
We soon expect to award a contract for the construction of a new pumping station, A-24, that will enhance service in the Flagler Village area. The $1.9 million project should be completed in December 2024.
By Mayor Dean Trantalis
The city also is making great progress on meeting the terms of the agreement we signed with the state Department of Environmental Protection following the series of unfortunate sewer pipe ruptures in late 2019 and early 2020. So far, 58 of the 78 milestones have been completed on time or ahead of schedule.
Regarding the water system, the City Commission has selected a consortium led by IDE Technologies to build and operate a new water treatment plant that will be located next to our Prospect Wellfield site at Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport.
IDE expects to be able to build the plant and have water production underway by 2025. The plant will use state-of-the-art technology, including nano-filtration and ion exchange, to produce clean, clear water for our residents and visitors.
City management is working hard to finalize a contract with them and expects to present it to the commission in the coming months. The city has also completed the Port Condo large water main project. This project replaced 1,500 feet of undersized and aging water pipe along Granada Drive in the Harbordale neighborhood with new PVC pipe.
Another completed project is the upgrade of water mains in the Victoria Park neighborhood. At a cost of $14 million, the city has replaced 55,000 feet of pipe that, like that in Harbordale, was too small and deteriorated. The work was finished in April of this year. A similar project in Coral Shores replaced 6,200 feet of pipe and finished in February. The city is also set to launch a major upgrade to its water meters. We should release a request for proposals next month to hire a firm that will undertake the advanced metering project. These new meters will be state of the art and would provide greater reliability in their consumption readings and thus greater accuracy in everyone’s billing. The third part of the city’s infrastructure system addresses stormwater, and we have made significant improvements there as well. Over the past year, we’ve completed upgrades to the stormwater system along South Gordon Road and Northeast 16 Street, built the River Oaks stormwater reserve park, made improvements along Southeast 7th Street and Southeast 11th Court, installed a catch basin and new outfall connection at the Cross Roads Shopping Center, and added 10 tidal valves in the downtown area to alleviate flooding.
In addition, we have started construction of major stormwater improvements in the River Oaks and Edgewood neighborhoods. At a cost of more than $53 million, the city is installing storm drainage pipe and drainage structures, reconstructing swales and making additional upgrades to prevent flooding.
The Edgewood work should be completed in September 2024, while the River Oaks work has an anticipated completion of January 2025. At the same time, we are executing a contract to begin similar work in the Melrose Manors neighborhood. We are raising city seawalls to keep flooding away from our roadways. January marked a major milestone when we completed the new seawall on Cordova Road. This two-year investment involved rebuilding a half-mile section of seawall and increasing its height to reduce flooding and protect property and infrastructure from storm surges during hurricanes. The city is now planning to replace four seawalls along Las Olas Boulevard, two seawalls on Hendricks Isle and one on Southeast 10th Avenue.
We also are undertaking a major new assessment of the city’s vulnerability to sea-level rise, thanks to a $135,000 state grant that Gov. DeSantis announced in May. This assessment will look at projections for sea-level rise, identify critical assets that may be impacted and make recommendations on measures that we should take as a result.
This City Commission made a promise when it came into office in 2018 that we would rebuild the community’s infrastructure and make sure it could handle the growing population as well as the global changes in climate. We are well on the way to accomplishing this important and vital goal for the betterment of Fort Lauderdale and its future generations.
