BRIDGEWATER — A longtime Bridgewater landmark disappeared last week when contractors dismantled the town’s first water tower.
The 50,000-gallon container, which was erected in 1913, began leaking in June, according to Town Superintendent Bob Holton.
The decision to remove the Grove Street tank was made at a September 2011 council meeting, when Holton presented a cost-benefit analysis.
Simple repairs weren’t possible and a complete rebuilding of the tank would cost $250,000—about $5 a gallon, he said.
The other option—removing the old tank and building a second tank—was more than double that amount. However, the new tank would hold 440,000 gallons and cost the town $1.50 per gallon to build.
“If you paid the $250,000, you would still be putting up a tank that is inadequate for our needs,” Holton said.
Council voted unanimously to remove the old tank and build a new one for $533,750.
Residents have not reported any drop in water pressure since the tank has been out of operation, Holton said.
The 2013 budget will include funds for the construction of the new tank, which will be located at the town’s water treatment facility, he added.
The water tank wasn’t decommissioned without an appropriate elegy, however.
“It stayed in place 98 years, which is a long time for a water tank,” Holton said during his presentation. “As most of you know,
Bridgewater has what we call aggressive water and this tank lasted about 50 years with virtually no maintenance.”
Holton recalled that this wasn’t the first time the tank had leaked. In the 1970s, the town invested $50,000 into saving the tank from the corrosive effects of “acidic water.”
“… What we bought were the last 30 years of its life,” he said.
The facility worked efficiently and without problems until a summertime inspection revealed a leak in the bowl and compromised structural integrity at the top of the tower.
Mayor Hallie Dinkel, who was raised in Bridgewater, recalled that during his childhood, teenaged daredevils would scale the ladder at night to paint graffiti on the tank. He didn’t recall exactly what was painted, but he did claim he was “too young” to try such foolhardy stunts himself.
“That would happen even in my early days here,” said Holton, who arrived as town manager in 1973. “Sometimes it was a love note, sometimes it was an obscenity.”
Eventually, the town put up a ladder guard to stop the vandalism.
“That was about 25 years ago, but prior to doing that, you could come in on a Monday morning and read the latest news up there,” Holton said.
Though the metal tank and structure were scrapped, the town has kept one memento: a manufacturer’s plaque that was bolted to the tank and nearly unreadable under the layers of paint.
It reads “Des Moines Bridge and Iron Company, Des Moines, Iowa, Pittsburg, Pennsylvania.”
Formed in 1897, the company was one of two in the United States to manufacture elevated water towers for municipalities. The tin-can-style tanks were sold throughout the Midwest and the east, and some in smaller communities are still functioning—just as Bridgewater’s was until a few months ago.
The original company, now known as PDM, or Pittsburg Des-Moines Steel, still manufactures steel, but has grown a long way from simple water tanks: PDM structures have been integral components of the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, the World Trade Center and many bridges.
