An old water tower gets a new facelift!

Coblaco Services recently completed work on a historical landmark, the Olde Town Arvada Water Tank.  Built in 1910, the tank is a piece of history rising 152 feet above the city below. Though no longer serving the city’s demand for water, the tower is visible for miles in all directions. Coblaco Services, Inc. began the project in October of 2016 to refresh the look of this landmark by repairing the weathered coating and halting the corrosion that had begun to deteriorate portions of the steel.

Working 15 stories up created many challenges and safety concerns. Crews utilized various personnel lifts and rigged suspended workstations from the top of the tank. But even with such tools in place, the legs, trusses and guywires made areas underneath the tank accessible only through careful and continuous repositioning of the lift equipment.

An additional complication to the coating operations was the tank location, situated in the center of a residential complex. Sandblasting was unfeasible due to the disturbance caused by migrating dust. In order to prepare the steel and removing existing rust, a Vapor Blasting unit was used to keep blast media contained and keep the surrounding areas clean. Once the surfaces were adequately prepared, the zigzag pattern of flatbar running up each leg made for tedious application in order to ensure proper coating of the interior channels of each leg and of these criss-crossed pieces of steel.

An updated color scheme and careful repainting of the logo were the final elements that brought new life to the Olde Town Arvada Water Tank.  It now stands out even bigger and brighter than before!

Please check out the video below for more details about this project!