The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, alongside federal, state and local officials, celebrated yesterday the start of construction on one of the three remaining contracts for the C-111 South Dade project, an Everglades restoration project in Miami-Dade County.
The contract, known as Contract 8, involves constructing the North Detention Area, which will connect the C-111 South Dade project to the Modified Water Deliveries to Everglades National Park project.
These projects are Foundation Projects, which the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) builds upon to deliver essential restoration benefits to America’s Everglades.
“ The Obama Administration has already invested $2.2 billion in the restoration of the Everglades. This is the second groundbreaking in just two months ,” said Jo-Ellen Darcy, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works. “The C-111 South Dade project is critical to the overall efforts to restore the south Florida ecosystem. Together, we are saving this system and preserving it for future generations.”
Once completed, the project will work in concert with the Modified Water Deliveries project to create a hydraulic ridge that will reduce groundwater seeping out of eastern Everglades National Park. As a result, this will enable additional water flow into Everglades National Park and Florida Bay.
The $13.9 million construction contract for Contract 8 was awarded to the Polote Corporation from Savannah, Georgia on Oct. 29. Two construction contracts remain for the C-111 South Dade project and are scheduled to be awarded within the next two years.
“The project exemplifies the collaboration of multiple state and federal agencies, as well as local area stakeholders, to protect America’s Everglades and the larger south Florida ecosystem ,” said Florida Department of Environmental Protection Deputy Secretary for Ecosystem Restoration Drew Bartlett.
The C-111 South Dade project is being constructed in partnership with the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD), the local sponsor.
[mappress mapid=”21775″]