Weather in the Gulf Coast is getting wilder. This, and the prospect of rising sea levels is of immediate concern to Tampa area residents. Proper construction, maintenance, and repair of seawall defenses are vital to avoid millions of dollars in property damage. Also at stake is the disruption of everyday life for thousands of people who have made the Coast their home.
Eleven years ago, New Orleans was devastated by flooding that drowned eighty percent of that city. Most of that flooding was not the result of the storm surges or heavy rains from Hurricane Katrina but from multiple failures of the levees and floodwalls that were supposed to protect that city. Barriers which were set down upon soft clay soil, and therefore lacked Solid Foundations upon which to rest the pilings, collapsed in whole sections. Water from drainage canals flowed in torrents which were unstoppable, from several locations around the city. The whole nation saw the result of the improper construction of the floodwall network and the devastation that followed in its wake. Seawall repair in Tampa FL, therefore, is no matter to be taken lightly or ignored.
Coastal cities around the globe are facing this same challenge. A changing climate has put the security of hundreds of billions of dollars of economic assets at risk. More importantly, the property and very lives of millions of people are threatened. These hazards are only going to increase with time. The continued viability of cities such as Tampa FL and New Orleans LA, and others, depends on proper engineering.
Seawall repair in Tampa FL involves continual inspection of the concrete barriers, sea levels, and far more importantly the subsurface soil bed upon which the support pilings rest. Shifting, eroding ground beneath those pilings will cause the barriers to warp and crack over time. The continual effects of water pressure and aging of concrete and steel also have to be monitored. When and where they occur, immediate and proper repairs must be made when weaknesses and defects begin appearing. In future years, those same barriers will need to be upgraded, extended, and reconstructed. That effort will represent the greatest challenge in civil engineering to be undertaken by any community facing the open sea. Upon its success or failure will the future of Tampa and hundreds of other coastal communities be decided.