The city of Miami Beach, situated between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, is made up of a series of natural and man-made islands. With a ground elevation generally ranging from 2 to 10 ft above sea level, the city is well known for its flooding problems during high tides and major rainstorms. In early 2014, Miami Beach significantly increased the specified design tailwater elevation for all stormwater projects.

With the ground elevation in the Sunset Harbour area among the city’s lowest, contractors needed to create an alternative to the previous injection well system. The project team redesigned the pump stations for discharge to outfall structures in Biscayne Bay and designed and constructed collection system improvements to remove water from the streets faster and to tie the collection systems for each of the pump stations together for added reliability. Additionally, contractors raised street and sidewalk elevations to ensure they were above the anticipated sea level during seasonal high tides, known as king tides. The elevation change required unique harmonization features for each building entrance patio and driveway. To achieve community buy-in, Lanzo and Wade Trim presented renderings of the neighborhood improvements to the neighborhood association.

This year’s safety judges also chose to honor the Sunset Harbour project with an award of merit for its safety efforts.

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