Lake Tarpon Outfall Canal Subaqueous Crossing
Drinking water for the City of St. Petersburg travels from the city’s Cosme Water Treatment Plant in northern Hillsborough County via two water transmission mains, crossing municipalities in northern Hillsborough and Pinellas counties before reaching St. Pete. A portion of the city’s 48-inch pipeline that aerially crossed the Lake Tarpon Outfall Canal had signs of deterioration and needed to be replaced to ensure reliable service. The pipeline carries 20 million gallons of water per day and sits in a 50-foot easement running between two mobile home retirement communities and beside a local hospital; often homes were situated within a few feet of the easement line.
The city hired Archer Western as their Construction Manager at Risk to construct a new, 54-inch high-density polyethylene (HDPE) pipe installed via horizontal directional drill underneath the canal to replace the existing aerial crossing. Public engagement was especially important for this project because the work occurred within St. Pete easements in the cities of Oldsmar and Safety Harbor, so coordination with those municipalities was paramount.
As part of the Archer Western team, Dialogue Public Relations worked to understand and address the needs of the surrounding neighborhoods, the hospital, and the cities of Oldsmar and Safety Harbor. Dialogue implemented three pre-construction public meetings (two in-person and one virtual) to provide residents with information specific to their neighborhoods and worked with the cities of Oldsmar and Safety Harbor to promote the meetings through their social media.
Throughout construction, Dialogue kept residents informed through phone calls and emails and by creating and distributing door hangers, writing monthly newsletter articles for the homeowners’ associations and working closely with the association boards.
Consistent and timely communications fostered trust with residents and helped to make this project a success. Archer Western completed the tie-in to the new pipe in October 2025. Restoration will be completed in January 2026.
