T BAILEY operated as the general contractor to construct a 5.2M gallon AWWA water reservoir for the City of Olympia. This turn-key project included designing, shop fabricating steel, and field erecting an 80’ diameter x 144’ tall above ground welded steel tank reservoir with a self-supported domed roof.
Above Ground Water Storage Tank Project
T BAILEY operated as the general contractor to construct a 5.2M gallon AWWA water reservoir for the City of Olympia. This turn-key project included designing, shop fabricating steel, and field erecting an 80’ diameter x 144’ tall welded steel tank water reservoir with a self-supported domed roof.
In addition to the welded steel water tank, T BAILEY, INC. self-performed civil work which included the reinforced concrete foundation, underground pipe and utility installations, including catch basins, manholes, and a CMU electrical control building with a backup generator.
This project was subject to the newly mandated provisions of EPA’s American Iron and Steel (AIS) requirements, which requires all permanent construction material consisting of more than 50% steel to be produced in the United States.
When the project broke ground, logging, clearing & grubbing was necessary to create a 2,100-ft long heavy duty access road to reach the actual job site and allow the heavy equipment and materials required for the project to be delivered. The existing forest conditions were rough and extremely wet and swampy. To overcome this, we excavated down several feet to remove all the mud and clay, put down a liner, then filled the area with crushed rock. This created a very stout road that would support the needs to construct and maintain the tank.
The reservoir is anchored to its foundation with the use of 89 high strength anchor bolts that are 4”diameter x almost 10 feet long. The tank reinforced concrete foundation was also a monstrosity, reaching 18 feet into the ground and requiring over 150 tons (300,000 pounds) of reinforced steel (rebar) and 1,800 cubic yards of concrete (that’s 200 concrete trucks!).
In addition to shop fabricating all the plate steel to erect the tank, the T BAILEY shop fabricated 256 stair treads – which is about 21 standard flights of stairs – which was then attached in the field.
During tank construction, T BAILEY utilized our specialized custom-made automatic welding machine (Vertomatic) for welding the vertical weld seams, and three-o-clock automatic for welding the horizontal weld seams. This allowed for efficient and precise welding of the complete penetration joints required for the tank construction. The tank steel weighs 700 tons (1.4 million pounds). The tank’s self-supporting dome roof was built on the ground, simultaneous to tank construction, and then lifted up into place using a 550-ton crane.
In order to apply coatings to the tank, our field painter began by constructing a complete scaffolding and containment system around the entire exterior of the reservoir. This was done to control environmental conditions during painting operations and also to prevent blasting abrasives and paint overspray from leaving the immediate area.
Upon completion of the structural work of building the tank and support buildings, site paving and fencing were installed and the surrounding site was restored with landscaping, walking paths, and enhanced wetlands.
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