Ground Conditions in Tampa
Tampa's ground is sand and clay over limestone, and the limestone has holes in it. The U.S. Geological Survey explains that sinkholes in the Tampa area form when the sand and clay on top slip down into cavities dissolved in the rock, and that some are set off by sudden drops in the water level from heavy pumping. Near the airport, federal soil surveys put the rock less than 2 to about 3 and a half feet down. Closer to the bay the water table is about a foot down, and there's plenty of brought-in fill.
That mix is why a Tampa scan can go deep in one spot and shallow in the next. A USGS study that ran GPR across Hillsborough and Pinellas found it could see anywhere from a few feet to more than 50, cut short where clay showed up and running deep in clean sand. Soft or disturbed ground often shows up on the scan too, which is worth knowing before you park a machine on it.
What’s Under the Streets in Tampa
Tampa's water department runs more than 2,200 miles of water main and over 14,000 fire hydrants, and some of that pipe is close to 100 years old. In 2019 the city approved PIPES, a $2.9 billion program to replace it. South Tampa also has purple reclaimed water lines from the Howard F. Curren plant, about 75 miles of pipe from 1.5 to 36 inches across, in iron and plastic. Tampa Electric has about half its lines underground and buries about 75 more miles a year, and Peoples Gas, which started in Tampa in 1895, runs the gas.
In December 2020, a subcontractor hit a 78-year-old water main on 30th Street, and the whole city went under a boil-water notice. In Tampa, old water pipe, new plastic, purple reuse lines and new underground power can all share the same block. Metal pipe shows up for a metal locator. Plastic often doesn't, unless someone buried a tracer wire with it, which is why we bring radar too.
We cover Downtown and Channelside, Ybor City, Westshore, South Tampa, Hyde Park, and Seminole Heights, plus nearby Brandon, Riverview, and Temple Terrace.
