Leesburg water tower raised 40 feet

LEESBURG — Ongoing improvements to the city of Leesburg’s water system took a major step forward Thursday when crews from Phoenix Fabricators and Erectors, aided by some of the largest cranes in the state of Georgia, raised the city’s State Highway 32 water tower to 140 feet.

A crowd of city residents, as well as some students and faculty from Lee County High School — which is next door to the water tower — joined members of the city government, including council members Judy Powell, Billy Breeden and Richard Bush; Mayor Jim Quinn, and City Manager Bob Alexander, to watch the three massive cranes lift the existing bulb of the tank into the air so 40 more feet of stem could be added to the structure.

According to Chad Griffin, CEO and chief project engineer with Still Water Engineering, which helped develop the city’s plans for improving the overall water supply, the new tank is a vital part of the extensive water system infrastructure improvement plan city leaders have been overseeing for the past two years.

That plan included the addition of several feet of new water pipes and mains throughout Leesburg, as well as construction of an additional 200,000-gallon water tank that was built at the city’s public works facility last year.

“What we’re doing today is we have a 500,000-gallon elevated tank that’s being raised 40 feet,” explained Griffin. “The reason we’re raising that elevated tank is because we’re trying to increase the pressure in the city of Leesburg for their water system.”

Griffin added that the raised tank will eventually work in conjunction with the tank at Public Works, as well as with the city’s newly installed water pump stations, to give the water system a significant boost.

“What we’re trying to do is increase the city of Leesburg’s hydraulic grade line,” Griffin said. “The hydraulic grade line before was a little bit low. With this addition here, we will be able to put this tank at the same hydraulic grade line as the 200,000-gallon tank. So the city of Leesburg will now have 700,000 gallons of elevated (water) storage.”

In addition to the benefits the residents will get from having increased pressure in their homes, Griffin, as well as Alexander, said the new system will also greatly improve the city’s fire suppression capabilities and prepare the city for increased growth in the coming years.

“This is real important,” Alexander said. “It’s part of our overall strategic plan for improving the infrastructure for our community. This part is the water part, which will improve the quality and quantity and pressure of our system.”

While those who attended the raising were pleased by the notion of an improved water system for the city, many also marvelled at the mere sight of watching the tank being raised.

Griffin said roughly 25 to 30 engineers and work crews from Still Waters and Phoenix Fabricators worked over the past few days to get things in place so the 200,000-pound tank bulb could be detached from the old stem and the 40-foot, 46,000-pound stem piece could be put hoisted up and welded in place before expected rain in the next few days.

“Some of these guys have worked religiously to set these up so we could do this before we have any bad weather come in, so it’s been a great operation,” he said.

Of course, it took more than manpower to make the raising possible, and Griffin pointed out that three enormous cranes were brought in to lift the pieces in place.

“The back crane is a 550-ton crane, the yellow crane is a 450-ton crane and the crane that’s holding the stem is a 250-ton crane,” he said. “Those are some of the biggest cranes in the state of Georgia. You don’t see them everywhere. It takes a big piece of equipment to move that much steel around.”

Griffin also spoke highly of the city of Leesburg, which allowed Still Waters to coordinate the project that ultimately should save the city in excess of a half-million dollars.

“It would have cost about $1.1 million to build a new tank,” Griffin said. “We’re doing this project for a little over $400,000, so we’re saving the city about $600,000.

“We really appreciate the city of Leesburg trusting us with this. We also appreciate the people at Phoenix Fabricators. (And) there’s been some local contractors, Hancock and Sons, who have helped us do some piping. City officials, the city council, we really appreciate those guys trusting us with this job.”