{"id":134856,"date":"2026-01-28T12:21:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T12:21:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/134856\/"},"modified":"2026-01-28T12:21:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T12:21:08","slug":"tunneling-work-underway-for-pipeline-in-hillsborough","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/134856\/","title":{"rendered":"Tunneling work underway for pipeline in Hillsborough"},"content":{"rendered":"

TAMPA, Fla. \u2014\u00a0Tampa Bay Water<\/a> has officially broken ground on a massive infrastructure project designed to keep up with rapid growth in southern Hillsborough County: a 26-mile underground water pipeline expected to deliver up to 65 million gallons of water per day.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The nearly half-billion-dollar project will install a 5-foot-diameter steel pipe connected to the region\u2019s water system as part of Tampa Bay Water\u2019s long-term, 20-year master plan.<\/p>\n

What You Need To Know<\/p>\n

Tampa Bay Water<\/a>\u00a0is currently constructing a 26-mile water pipeline to deliver water to south Hillsborough County
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The 5-foot-diameter pipe will carry 65 million gallons of water per day
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Tunneling work has begun under Kings Way and Bloomingdale in Brandon where a section of pipe will be installed 25 feet\u00a0under the existing roadway\u00a0
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The entire pipeline is expected to be completed by the end of 2028<\/p>\n

Construction is underway near the busy intersection of Kings Avenue and Bloomingdale Avenue in Brandon. While drivers may only see fencing and equipment at street level, crews are carrying out extensive underground work beneath the surface.<\/p>\n

Tampa Bay Water recently gave a behind-the-scenes look at the site, where crews are digging two massive shafts \u2014 each about 25 feet deep \u2014 on opposite sides of the road. These shafts will house specialized equipment used to tunnel under existing utilities and roadways without disrupting traffic above.<\/p>\n

According to Sam Flowers, area manager with Garney Construction, tunneling is a complex process that requires years of geotechnical planning, but significantly reduces surface impacts.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was important to Tampa Bay Water and to Garney to minimize impacts to the traveling public to the greatest extent possible,\u201d Flowers said. \u201cOne way we can do that is by tunneling under major roadways like this. It also helps us get under existing utilities without disrupting those as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tampa Bay Water communications manager Brandon Moore said the project is essential, as more people and businesses move into the area.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe see a lot of growth (with) more homes being built, more people moving into southern Hillsborough County,\u201d Moore said. \u201cThat means a greater need for water \u2014 not only for residents but for businesses, hospitals, schools, fire rescue, and other essential services.\u201d<\/p>\n

Crews are expected to spend about two weeks completing the shafts at Kings Way and Bloomingdale before lowering the tunneling machine, which will bore a tunnel more than 5 feet wide. Construction at this location is expected to wrap up by the summer.<\/p>\n

While much of the 26-mile pipeline will be installed using open-trench construction, several key areas will require tunneling, including a major crossing beneath the Alafia River. Those tunnel shafts will be dug nearly twice as deep as the current work in Brandon.<\/p>\n

Tampa Bay Water officials said the full pipeline is expected to be operational by the end of 2028.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TAMPA, Fla. \u2014\u00a0Tampa Bay Water has officially broken ground on a massive infrastructure project designed to keep up…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":134857,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[767,274,28,276,2635,2287,115,135,137,136,278],"class_list":{"0":"post-134856","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tampa","8":"tag-app-community","9":"tag-app-top-stories","10":"tag-florida","11":"tag-hillsborough-county","12":"tag-jason-lanning","13":"tag-local-politics","14":"tag-news","15":"tag-tampa","16":"tag-tampa-headlines","17":"tag-tampa-news","18":"tag-top-stories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134856","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=134856"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134856\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/134857"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=134856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=134856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=134856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}