An AMERICAN Trifecta in Hillsborough County, Florida

One Water is a comprehensive approach to managing our most precious resource. With One Water, water is valued at every stage and in every form. It’s with this concept in mind that Hillsborough County, Florida, created its One Water Program, a comprehensive drinking water, wastewater and reclaimed water solution to keep pace with current growth and ensure dependable utility services in the future.

One project that falls under the county’s One Water Program is the $100 million South County Potable Water Transmission Main Project, which will enhance reliability and improve water pressure in the south part of its service area. The project includes designing, permitting and constructing 10.7 miles of 42- and 48-inch drinking water mains. The contractor for this Design Build project is Westra Construction, and the provider of the ductile iron pipe, spiral-welded steel pipe and resilient wedge gate valves is AMERICAN. McKim & Creed partnered with Westra on design and permitting. With Design Build, the engineer, contractor and pipe supplier work together at the start of a project, ensuring the proper specifications are in place and materials are on the jobsite when needed. This provides the best value in terms of cost and scheduling.

“Hillsborough County Water Resources is a responsive, flexible and forward-thinking utility,” said Westra Project Manager Mike Gibson, P.E. “Westra was proud to partner with Hillsborough County, AMERICAN, and McKim & Creed to improve water capacity and pressure while also providing redundancy and sustainability within their system.”

Westra was awarded Phase 1 (design) of the South County Potable Water Transmission Main Project in September 2021 and received a notice to proceed one month later. Phase 2 (construction) began in July 2022, and the project was completed in late 2024.

In total, more than 24,000 feet of 42-inch and almost 30,000 feet of 48-inch AMERICAN ductile iron pipe were installed as well as 27 AMERICAN Flow Control resilient wedge gate valves in sizes 42, 48 and 36 inches. About 2,000 feet of 48-inch AMERICAN spiral-welded steel pipe was also installed using horizontal directional drilling (HDD).

“Ductile iron pipe was selected for this project because of its proven reliability, durability and flexibility,” Gibson explained. “Ductile iron pipe allows for quick in-field changes as necessary, which is helpful when installing belowground utilities within congested right-of-way corridors.

“Spiral-welded steel pipe was installed using HDD for a subaqueous crossing of a natural creek within an environmentally protected preserve area,” Gibson said. “This portion was completed toward the end of the project and required 12 cranes spaced 60 feet apart to hold the spiral-welded steel pipe at the proper entry angle.”

According to ADIP/ASWP Marketing Services Manager Kyle Couture, this Design Build project is a great example of collaborative delivery and how working together with the design and construction teams from the start of a project ensures the specifications are in the right place and construction timelines are met.

Gibson added, “AMERICAN is a truly valued member of the Design Build team and has been supportive throughout the project,” he said. “Kyle Couture, Coleman McClain, Scott Turnquist, Greg Owens, Matt Jefferies, Matt Durham and so many others have maintained a team-first attitude while working through challenges. Everyone has been responsive, professional and creative.”

Hillsborough County Water Resources delivers approximately 82 million gallons of water a day to about 725,000 people in and around Tampa. It operates four water treatment plants and five wastewater treatment plants and maintains 6,100 miles of pipeline.