The Port of Miami is steaming ahead on the Southeast's largest port project—a $1-billion tunnel aimed at enhancing the South Florida transportation hub's efficiency and interstate connectivity in time for an expected surge in oversized cargo traffic coming from an expanded Panama Canal. Inconsistent geological variations—from loose sand to limestone to porous areas in an undefined pattern—make the Port of Miami Tunnel project a “soft-ground” tunnel, creating challenges in design and construction, says the Florida Dept. of Transportation.
“From an engineering aspect, a tunnel [here], because of the geology, is considered challenging even for a seasoned tunnel [builder],” says Isa Nunez, construction program manager in the Miami office of FDOT.