TAMPA, Fla. – The City of Tampa is upgrading its stormwater equipment with a new Spyder machine designed to expedite ditch clearing and maintain its stormwater system.<\/p>\n
Tampa stormwater equipment upgrades <\/p>\n
What we know:<\/p>\n
City officials say City council approved $650,000 in funding to purchase a second Spyder excavator. The city will have two machines in operation, but explains that the original Spyder machine is aging.<\/p>\n
The Spyder has hydraulic legs and specialized wheels that stabilize the excavator on steep slopes and tricky ditches that a standard excavator cannot reach easily.<\/p>\n
City officials say Tampa has about 200 miles of stormwater ditches.<\/p>\n
They say grass clippings, yard debris and trash can clog the ditches and cause the stormwater system to overflow when there’s a lot of rain.<\/p>\n
By cleaning out these ditches, it creates a clear drainage line from local neighborhoods to prevent water from overflowing and flooding areas.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tampa ditch regrading project <\/p>\n
By the numbers:<\/p>\n
City crews have regraded 42,000 feet of ditches so far, which equals about eight miles.<\/p>\n
The city says that’s more than double the amount of ditch grading completed last year.<\/p>\n
The city aims to regrade its entire 200-mile stormwater system within seven years.<\/p>\n
Officials noted that any major storm can overwhelm drainage infrastructure if ditches remain blocked.<\/p>\n
Local flood prevention efforts <\/p>\n
What we don’t know:<\/p>\n
The city hasn’t indicated whether additional machines will be purchased in future budget cycles.<\/p>\n
The Source: The information in this story was gathered from a news conference with Tampa city officials.<\/p>\n
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