Preventing a water crisis before it has a chance to happen.

JEA, Florida’s largest community-owned utility, had an issue that could one day affect sewer service for more than 55,000 customers — a situation that redundancy could prevent. While a 42-inch sewer force main at the bottom of the St. Johns River showed minimal signs of exposure or damage, it was nearing the end of its service life with no backup if the aging pipe failed or needed repair. JEA selected Haskell to provide design-build services for the design and installation of approximately 4,200 linear feet of 36-inch HDPE sewer force main inside a 42-inch steel casing.

Haskell aligned the complex timeline and construction to limit impact.

The project was staged from the Jacksonville Sports Complex, home of the Jacksonville Jaguars. The brownfield site — a former shipyard and fuel storage facility dating back to the 1920s — was riddled with buried infrastructure, abandoned foundations, pilings, debris and impacted soils. Equally crucial, the site would host more than 80 events for 700,000 patrons during the six-month construction phase, which began after the largest annual outdoor event in Jacksonville and ended before the 2016 NFL preseason began.

Horizontal directional drilling utilized 4,200 linear feet of 42-inch steel casing.

The 13-month project navigated multiple stakeholders and agencies, completed challenging tie-ins and maintained traffic in a busy urban setting. After completion, JEA had two force mains each capable of conveying up to 10 MGD from the south bank of the St. John’s River to the north bank for treatment. Thanks to Haskell’s careful attention to permitting and a fixed price design-build delivery, JEA gained a backup option delivered on time and expected to be in service for at least 40-50 years.