South Shores Force Main River Crossing Project

Estimated Dates & Work Schedule

Anticipated Start Date: 2016-02-24
Anticipated End Date: 2016-09-30

This project has been completed. Below is the information provided to customers prior to the project start date. 


Project Update - August 18, 2016
The South Shores force main has been installed, tested and cleared for use! This follows the successful completion of the pipe "pull back" of over 4,000 linear feet of new 36-inch sewer line under the St. Johns River and the extension of a sewer line down Franklin Street from Adams Street to Duval Street where the connection was made to an existing pipe.  

The original objective of this important project was to install a new sanitary sewer force main under the St. Johns River from the north bank near Everbank Field to an existing JEA sewer pump station located on the south bank on Utah Avenue. Sanitary sewer force mains are a critical piece of JEA’s sewer collection system, designed to transport high volumes of wastewater to one of our 11 wastewater treatment facilities located throughout our service territory. This newest sewer force main will provide redundancy for the existing main that is a vital piece of JEA’s sewer infrastructure.

Check out articles written by local news sources about the project:

Installation of Sewer Force Main – Horizontal Directional Drill (HDD)
JEA has installed over 4,000 linear feet (3/4 mile) of 42” steel casing and 36” high-density polyethylene or HDPE carrier pipe 50’ under the river bed of the St. Johns River utilizing the horizontal directional drilling (HDD) method of construction. Directional boring, or HDD is a steerable, trenchless method of installing underground pipes. HDD is often used when digging or trenching is not practical for installing a pipe, such as under a water body. 

Here is a short video on the Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD) method of construction.

The video below is of the actual project.

Project Dates

  • Anticipated start date: Late - February 2016
  • Estimated completion date: September 2016
    *All dates are tentative and subject to change

Project Work Hours

  • Normal work hours: Monday through Saturday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
  • Extended work hours 24 hours a day, 7 days a week 

Project Highlights

  • The existing sewer force main was constructed by the City of Jacksonville in the early 1970’s
  • Total estimated cost of this project is just over $12 million dollars
  • The existing pipe currently transports over 10 million gallons of wastewater per day
  • The two pipes will be able to handle up to a peak flow of 16.7 million gallons per day
  • These pipes serve over 50,000 JEA sewer customers
  • 35 large tractor trailers will be utilized to deliver 105 “sticks” of 40’ steel pipe
  • The total weight of the steel being installed is over 1,353,000 pounds
  • The new pipe is expected to be in service for at least 40-50 years

Sports and Entertainment Complex Parking Areas - Temporary Closures 

We be required to close a portion of Franklin Street from June 13, 2016 to June 27, 2016 while our contractor extends the sewer line. 

JEA will be required to temporarily close portions of the Sports Complex parking areas at EverBank Field during construction activities. JEA’s contractor will fence and close sections of Lot J, Lot M, Lot N and Lot R intermittently from June 28, 2016 through August 12, 2016 during the various stages of construction. 

These closures will also include sections of Adams Street, Duval Street, E. Beaver Street and Franklin Street within the sports complex parking areas. These closures will impact the number of available parking spaces, normal parking traffic flow and pedestrian access.

SMG and our event partners will continue to communicate to ticket buyers and patrons coming to the sports complex for each event via email, social media and other media outlets to make sure patrons are informed about any changes in the parking plan or traffic patterns. JEA is also in close coordination with the City  of Jacksonville's Sports & Entertainment Office and the Jacksonville Sherriff’s Office. 

Event alerts will be posted at www.jaxevents.com. American Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant parking will be available in every SMG managed parking lot which is available on a first come first serve basis for those with the appropriate permit. 

This page will be continually updated to provide the latest information on road closures, parking area closures and vehicular/pedestrian detour routes. Please plan ahead for possible traffic delays when attending events at the sports complex.  

Town Meeting 

JEA held an informational town meeting on February 4, 2016 at Julia Landon College Preparatory School (formerly Landon Middle School) located at 1819 Thacker Drive, Jacksonville FL 32207 at 6 p.m. where the community was invited to attend to learn more about this project .  

Contact Information

If you require immediate assistance outside of our regular business hours (M-F, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.) please contact our 24-hour onsite contact representative at (904) 274-0801.