Pipeline crews start staging on Boyette Road at Rhodine Monday; tunneling to run 4–6 months

Illustrative file photo: a microtunneling boring machine and jacking frame set in a launch shaft, the trenchless method used for pipeline crossings beneath roads. Photo: Sah die erde / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0). Resized; website wordmark added. Photo source · License

South Hillsborough Pipeline crews begin moving equipment onto the west side of Boyette Road just north of Rhodine Road on Monday, Oct. 5, staging for microtunnel construction that will push the new water main underneath Boyette Road, according to an Oct. 2 notice from Tampa Bay Water.

Neighbors should expect noise and activity from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday, with brief delays as trucks turn in and out of the site. The utility says no long-term road closures are anticipated at that location. Tunneling near Rhodine Road is expected to run roughly four to six months, and Tampa Bay Water notes all construction schedules can change.

Boyette Road pipeline work starting Oct. 5

Location	What happens	How long
Boyette Road north of Rhodine Road	Crews mobilize for microtunneling under Boyette Road	Tunneling about 4-6 months
Boyette Road east toward Wickerwood Court	Open-trench construction continues	Through early November

Source: southhillsboroughpipeline.com

Where else crews are working on Boyette Road

Farther along the corridor, Donneymoor Drive has reopened at Boyette Road now that open-trench work through that intersection is finished. Crews are digging east from there, past the River Oaks Treatment Center, before moving on toward Wickerwood Court.

Pedestrians in the Fishhawk area have a longer-term change: the paved trail just east of the Fishhawk Ranch West community closed Oct. 2 for pipeline work and is expected to stay closed about six to eight months.

Why the main road is being dug up

Tampa Bay Water is building the line, up to 5 feet in diameter, to move as much as 65 million additional gallons of drinking water a day from the regional surface water treatment plant to the Lithia Water Treatment Plant and a new plant planned in the Balm area. The agency points to growth projections that show Riverview's population rising more than 30% by 2050.

Microtunneling, used here beneath Boyette Road, is one of the trenchless methods Tampa Bay Water says it chose along parts of the route to limit damage to roads and environmentally sensitive land. Garney Construction is the construction manager at-risk managing the work.