S-333N Spillway

The South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) set out to give the Everglades a better lifeline: more clean water, delivered more naturally. To make that possible, SFWMD added a new spillway beside the existing S-333 structure—unlocking greater flexibility in how water moves between Water Conservation Area-3A (WCA-3A) and Everglades National Park (ENP).

SFWMD turned to Erdman Anthony to design and guide construction of this critical upgrade—and to deliver it on a fast-tracked schedule.

This project’s result is the S-333N structure: a fully automated, electrically operated two-gate spillway that has a peak capacity of 1,150 cubic feet per second and a generator for emergency operation during power outages. Sitting at the intersection of the L-67A and L-29 canals in Miami-Dade County, it works hand-in-hand with the original S-333 to expand hydraulic connectivity and improve water flow into ENP.

Our firm’s design and engineering efforts included:

• Detailed calculations, construction drawings, cost opinions, specifications—all prepared to meet U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and SFWMD requirements
• Value engineering to optimize spillway placement, boosting function while reducing costs
• Permitting support and coordination with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and USACE to address environmental and federal facility impacts
• Presentations and briefings for SFWMD’s executive team and project stakeholders
• Construction-phase review of documents, testing, and progress

S-333N is more than just another structure. It is the first completed component of the Central Everglades Planning Project (CEPP)—a far-reaching initiative that combines storage, treatment, conveyance, and seepage management to move additional fresh water south, from Lake Okeechobee to the water conservation areas, ENP, and Florida Bay.