The large water storage tank located on 33rd Street near Ninth Avenue South in Great Falls stores roughly 5 million gallons of water.
Rehabilitation began on Tuesday after crews noticed significant leaking and cracks in the tank back in April.
“For the 33rd Street tank, it's exterior work, which is patching concrete issues that have come up, which all concrete has, fixing the railing, putting new railing up, and then on the inside, we’re just cleaning and lining it,” explained Amanda Brownlee, senior civil engineer with the City of Great Falls Public Works Department.
Brownlee also explained why they decided to repair this tank, rather than replace it altogether.
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“It’s more fiscally responsible. It's $3 million to do the maintenance, and it's about $22 million for a new tank,” said Brownlee. “We're fine right now, but if we keep expanding, we will need more capacity, so it is on our five-year plan to build a new tank.”
According to city staff, water storage tanks such as this one typically last 100 years. This tank is only 80 years old; repairing this tank will save the city millions of dollars and resources.
Exterior work began on Tuesday and the interior work will begin once the water is drained in the fall.
“This is a two-phase construction project; the outside is in the summer, and then once watering lessens, it will have the work done on the inside, so it’ll be done by the end of winter,” Brownlee said.
