Fill It Up—Getting Water to Port Miami in Time for Mega Cruise Ship Arrivals

Port Miami is one of the busiest cruise ship ports in the world, berthing larger cruise ships. Port Miami is facing water distribution system flow and pressure issues during cruise ship potable water filling activities. In addition, Port Miami is preparing for the arrival of the largest mega cruise ships in the world, which will only worsen the water flow and pressure issues, if they are not addressed prior to their arrival. This paper will detail the planning work completed by the Miami-Dade Water and Sewer Department and the Miami-Dade Seaport Department. In addition, it will review the subsequent activities to implement the planned water infrastructure and provide a status of the construction of the infrastructure and the arrival of the mega cruise ships. Hydraulic analyses were performed to identify transmission, distribution, and ship filling station improvements. Constructability was reviewed due to multiple ongoing construction projects as well as substantial subterranean structural components along the cruise ship wharf. This project included planning, utilizing one of the largest hydraulic models for one of the largest water systems in the U.S. It also included design coordination for various construction techniques, including microtunneling and horizontal directional drilling, due to a subaqueous crossing of Biscayne Bay, in Miami, Florida, and crossing of railways.