The board of Tampa Bay Water has approved an estimated $125-million repair program for the agency’s four-year-old, 15.5-billion-gallon C.W. “Bill” Young Regional Reservoir. The facility, which cost roughly $140 million to construct originally, has been experiencing significant cracking since late 2006. The authority is also moving ahead with a lawsuit against the three lead members of the original project team: HDR of Omaha, Neb., the designer; Barnard Construction of Bozeman, Mont., the contractor; and construction manager Construction Dynamics Group of Columbia, Md.
Tampa Bay Water reports that cracking has been found along about 40% of the interior lining. Problem areas are located in the soil-cement lining of the interior walls, which had been designed as an alternative erosion-control component of the reservoir.