Florida crews drill 5,000-foot HDD water line beneath East Bay
(UI) — Crews in Bay County, Florida, are drilling beneath East Bay to install a 5,000-foot subaqueous water line that will strengthen water delivery to Tyndall Air Force Base and Mexico Beach, according to MyPanhandle.com.
The new 24-inch fusible PVC pipeline, positioned roughly 70 feet below the bay floor and 120 feet beneath the surface, replaces an aging bridge-mounted pipe that has supplied the region for decades. Crews began horizontal directional drilling (HDD) in August and are using dual rigs on opposite shores to complete an intersecting bore beneath the bay.
“The bay is about 50 feet deep, and they will do what we call an intersecting drill, and they will drill two rigs down to 120 feet deep and intersect, and meet the drills, and they’ll pull one drill out,” said Chad Andrews, regional manager with Underground Solutions, as reported by MyPanhandle.com.
Once complete, the line will supply up to 14 million gallons of potable water per day, serving both military and civilian systems. Bay County officials said the $6.4 million project is part of a broader effort to reinforce critical coastal and military infrastructure against future disruptions.
Andrews noted the installation ranks among the top 20 longest horizontal directional drill (HDD) crossings for plastic pipe in the U.S. “If everything is done correctly, this pipe should get to the other side and provide water with a very resilient system for the next 100 years,” he said.
The project is expected to be finished by spring 2026.
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