need for fix
Tampa Bay Water completed a short-term repair program at the C.W. Bill Young Regional Reservoir and received clearance from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to fill the reservoir to its capacity of 15.5 billion gallons.
The short-term repair program was necessary due to continued abnormal cracking on the reservoir’s interior erosion control layer. After a thorough analysis, Tampa Bay Water’s consulting engineers said the cause of the soil-cement cracking at the regional reservoir is high water pressures underneath the erosion control liner on the interior of the storage facility. Inspection and analysis continue to conclude the reservoir is safe; however, a long-term fix to water pressure and cracking in the erosion control layer is needed.
Tampa Bay Water’s system engineer identified three basic approaches to fixing the problem. These include:
- Adding drains to the soil wedge.
- Removing the soil wedge and replacing it with a well-drained layer.
- Adding weight to the soil-cement, erosion control layer to prevent further movement.
