The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Jacksonville District awarded a $7.7 million contract for the Biscayne Bay Coastal Wetlands project, an Everglades restoration project in Miami-Dade County, Florida.
The $7,759,000 construction contract was awarded May 13 to the Kiewit Infrastructure South Company, of Sunrise, Florida. The contract is for the Biscayne Bay Coastal Wetlands Phase I Construction Project, L-31 Flow-way Pump Station S-709, in Miami-Dade County, Florida. The estimated construction completion date is late 2021.
“The S-709 pump station is an important piece of infrastructure near the southern end of the L-31 East Flow way,” said Lt. Col. Todd Polk, Jacksonville District Deputy Commander for South Florida. “This construction moves us one step closer to putting the infrastructure in place that is needed to restore conditions in the coastal wetlands and ultimately in Biscayne Bay.”
The S-709 structure is designed to be a 40 cubic foot per second (cfs) pump station, located north of the C-103 canal on the L-31E canal. When operational, the S-709 will pump water from the C-103 canal and discharge to the north into the L-31E canal using two 20 cfs submersible pumps. Pump station S-709 will also have a sixty inch culvert with a slide gate to pass flows during emergency situations.
The purpose of the Biscayne Bay Coastal Wetlands (BBCW) project is to rehydrate coastal wetlands and reduce damaging point-source freshwater discharge to Biscayne Bay and Biscayne National Park. The BBCW project will restore wetland and estuarine habitats, and divert an average of 59 percent of the annual coastal structure discharge into freshwater and saltwater wetlands instead of direct discharges to Biscayne Bay and Biscayne National Park.
The project will rehydrate coastal wetlands and reduce point-source discharges into Biscayne Bay by replacing lost overland flow and partially compensating for the reduction in groundwater seepage by redistributing, through a spreader system, available surface water entering the area from regional canals. The proposed redistribution of freshwater flow across a broad area is expected to help restore saltwater wetlands and nearshore bay habitat. The project, located in southeast Miami-Dade County, incorporates the Deering Estate, the Cutler Wetlands, the L-31E Flow-way/North Canal, and recreational features.
The Biscayne Coastal Wetlands Project is one of the “second generation” projects that are components of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP).
Phase 1 construction will be accomplished by the Corps, and includes seven pump stations, approximately 10 culverts reconnecting wetlands, and approximately three miles of spreader canals, and the plugging of 2,500 feet of mosquito control ditches. The Phase 1 project area is covers approximately 3,761 acres, with the northern boundary at Deering Estates and the southern boundary at the Turkey Point Power Plant.
Since 2012, our partners at the South Florida Water Management District and the Corps have designed and constructed the initial parts of the Biscayne Bay Coastal Wetlands project in order to move the project forward.
The Biscayne Bay Coastal Wetlands Phase I Project was authorized under Section 7002 (5) (5) of the Water Resources Reform Development Act (WRRDA) of 2014.
Additional information on the Biscayne Bay Coastal Wetlands project is available at: www.saj.usace.army.mil/BBCW