Expand / Collapse search
☰

Crews preparing Tampa Bypass Canal flood control structure for upcoming hurricane season

By
Published  May 6, 2025 5:26pm EDT
Tampa
FOX 13 News
Improvements underway along Tampa Bypass Canal

Improvements underway along Tampa Bypass Canal

Aaron Mesmer reports.

The Brief

    • Crews are preparing one of its largest structures along the Tampa Bypass Canal system to manage heavy rains during the upcoming hurricane season.
    • Crews are repairing concrete, adding corrosion protection and replacing the floodgates at one of the canal's flood control structures following years of wear and tear.
    • A drainage culvert is also under repair after it was damaged last year during Hurricane Milton.

TAMPA, Fla. - The Southwest Florida Water Management District is preparing one of its largest structures along the Tampa Bypass Canal system to manage heavy rains during the upcoming hurricane season.

What's Being Done:

Crews are repairing concrete, adding corrosion protection and replacing the floodgates at one of the canal's flood control structures following years of wear and tear. 

RELATED: Tampa Bypass Canal: A vital flood prevention measure with historic significance and presidential ties

A drainage culvert is also under repair after it was damaged last year during Hurricane Milton.

"It really ensures the readiness of this facility to respond to events we may experience during the season," said Jerry Mallams, the operations bureau chief at SWFWMD.

What they're saying:

Mallams said Milton tested the canal's capabilities when it diverted more than 7 billion gallons of water a day.

Follow FOX 13 on YouTube

"Which is nearly two and a half times the amount of water we moved during Hurricane Irma. This effort saved countless homes and businesses along the river from flooding," Mallams explained.

Mallams said the region saw what can happen without this nearly 16-mile canal. It was constructed in response to devastating flooding caused by Hurricane Donna in 1960.

Dig deeper:

Former U.S. Congressman Sam Gibbons spoke with FOX 13 in 2011 about first asking President Kennedy, then President Johnson for resources to build the canal.

"We've had floods on the Hillsborough River, and we're trying to get a canal built," Gibbons said he told President Kennedy. "Well, he went to Berlin, came back, got assassinated. I took the letter to President Johnson, and he said, 'you got it, Sam.'"

MORE: Hurricane Preparedness Week: Residents voice concerns as hurricane season approaches

Decades later, the canal and its structures continue to do their jobs, Mallams said.

"If we're able to protect the rebar, it can extend the useful life into perpetuity another 50 to 100 years," he added.

The Source: The information in this story was gathered by FOX 13's Aaron Mesmer. 

WATCH FOX 13 NEWS: 

STAY CONNECTED WITH FOX 13 TAMPA:

TampaHurricane Safety