The Coral Springs Improvement District (CSID) owns and maintains more than 20 miles of canals in the City of Coral Springs. Constructed in the early 1970s by various developers and incorporated into the CSID canal network, these canals were often constructed based on fill needs and aesthetic interpretation without following a plan to assure slope stability.
Over the course of 40 years, the canal banks have experienced erosion, undermining and surcharging, posing an increasing threat to adjacent structures and prompting CSID to launch a canal bank stabilization program. Under a continuing design-build services contract with CSID, Globaltech has led a series of projects to evaluate, design and stabilize canal banks on a total of 41 residential properties to date.
The work involves placing coarse aggregate or “rip rap”—limestone averaging 6 to 12 inches in diameter—to re-establish property boundaries and ensure lasting stability of the banks. So far, more than 40,000 tons of limestone has been used to stabilize more than 4,200 linear feet of canal bank.
Project Achievements / Benefits
- Coordinating with all stakeholders (CSID staff, homeowners, regulatory agencies, and others), Globaltech gathered data from all canal bank failure sites, designed rip rap implementation plans, and prepared detailed Maintenance of Traffic (MOT) plans.
- All construction work was performed from barges in the canals, eliminating the need for trucks and equipment on residential streets. Workers accessed backyards from the water rather than having to cut through private property.
- Once work crews re-established the proper canal alignment and slope, the banks were finished with a geotextile fabric, top soil and sod.
- All sites were fully restored after construction. Crews maintained
and replaced irrigation systems, landscaping, and fences for individual homeowners as well as restored a 1,200-foot-long construction road along the first hole of the Eagle Trace Golf Course.
