Residents who travel in the Birchs Road area of North Bay in West Ferris have probably noticed the scaffolding coming down on the standpipe for the last couple of weeks.
Work to refurbish the 40-metre tall water tower is finished and North Bay city councillor Chris Mayne says the project came in under budget and was finished ahead of schedule.
The entire project was estimated to cost $2.5 million and Mayne says it came in just under that amount and the work was finished seven to 10 days ahead of schedule.
Mayne says when the scaffolding first went up in the spring so workers could sandblast the old paint and recoat the exterior, it took about a month to surround the tower with a series of rising levels.
“It was a very intricate piece of construction,” Mayne said of the scaffolding.
The public wasn’t able to see the sandblasting because once the scaffolding was in place, the entire tower was enclosed with a covering to ensure sand-blasted particles didn’t escape into the surrounding area.
Instead, the particles fell to the bottom and then were vacuumed up.
The water tower also had the interior recoated after it was drained earlier this spring.
Mayne says the interior was coated with a compound that seals any rust and potential contaminants so that the tower is left in a pure state and safely holds the water.
Mayne says he got a look at the interior of the tower when it was drained and calling it huge is an understatement.
When full, the water tower holds 11-million litres of water.
Sandblasting the interior was also an intricate project.
Just like the exterior work, the particles sandblasted away fell to the bottom and were vacuumed up.
In addition, the workers performing the interior work wore breathing apparatus because Mayne says there was virtually no oxygen inside the water tower.
Mayne says some of the exterior paint contained lead, so after it was vacuumed it was shipped to Sarnia to be decontaminated.
The city opted to refurbish the water tower rather than replace it because there’s a huge difference in costs.
Consultants had a good look at the facility and decided that with some minor repairs of the welding and resurfacing, the existing structure could be refinished and have another 15 to 20 years of life before it would have to be reviewed again,” Mayne said.
That work amounted to $2.5 million.
Mayne says compare that to $6 million to $8 million which is what a new water tower would have cost taxpayers.
When the work to drain the tower of water first began, Mayne says there was some concern if removing that much water capacity from the city would reduce water pressure for residents of West Ferris.
“I live in West Ferris myself and every day I was paying attention to the water pressure from the taps,” Mayne said.
“But I don’t think many people noticed the difference. We didn’t receive any complaints through the summer about low water pressure in West Ferris.”
Mayne says water pressure might have become a problem had the city been faced with a large fire.
But that didn’t happen.
Mayne says North Bay has a series of water storage areas across the city, much like a hydro grid.
He says residents of West Ferris were transferred to those storage areas and adds once the water coming into those storage facilities was pressurized in the distribution system, the end result was no effect on water pressure.
The company that carried out the refurbishment is JDCMI of Cambridge, Ontario.
Mayne says the company did a great job.
The refurbished tower now displays a dark gray colour along with the city’s logo and name.
