By: Metal Culverts, Inc
The state of Florida with all its sand, sun, and water creates an ideal scene for those who enjoy the beach and endless opportunities in beautiful weather. However, for those charged with creating and maintaining the state’s infrastructure, it creates a myriad of problems. The simple task of digging a hole and placing a stop sign can be complicated by Florida’s soil and groundwater problems. The state has very sandy and unstable soil conditions throughout the state and to complicate matters further, they have an unusually high water table in many locations. This equals complications for contractors who are looking to install larger power poles, transmission lines, traffic signage, industrial lighting, or anything that requires a base be dug into the ground. For many years, contractors tried to utilize Sonnotubes for support when pouring a concrete base. This only complicated the problem further as the Sonnotubes could not handle the moisture from the high water tables and were only available in diameters up to 42”. In events where Sonnotubes failed, or larger/deeper holes were required, contractors would have to over excavate the hole to compensate for collapsing walls of the sandy soil. 
This practice caused the contractors to spend noticeable amounts of extra time digging and re-filling.
In the past 5-6 years, Florida Power and Light , (the state’s major electric utility) has been extremely focused on updating the power grid to enhance all power lines to better withstand hurricanes and severe storms. Many old wooden power lines have been replaced with concrete structures and major power lines have been taken down and reinforced. During the early stages of this process, several utility contractors reached out to Metal Culverts staff to try and develop an alternative that could help with the installation of these structures. With its wide range of diameters, gauges, and lengths along with extreme durability in wet environments, corrugated metal pipe seemed to be an easy solution to the problem.
While some contractors were slow to adapt, it is now a common practice for utility companies to utilize cmp for caisson and concrete “sleeves” as they are known to many contractors. In the past 5-6 years Metal Culverts has produced the cmp sleeves in diameters from 24”-96” in lengths ranging from 8’ all the way to 40’. Materials mainly consist of galvanized or aluminized type 2 in gauges ranging from 16 gauge through 12 gauge depending on diameter and depth of sleeve.