THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, July 27, 1996 TAG: 9607270206
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY PAUL SOUTH, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MANTEO LENGTH: 46 lines
A 56-year-old landmark in this Roanoke Island community is coming down, piece by piece.
The 125-foot-tall Manteo water tower, battered by the elements for more than a half-century, will be replaced by a new tower some time next year.
``Basically it got to the point where replacing the water tower would be cheaper in the long run than doing the repairs that needed to be done on the old one,'' Town Manager Kermit Skinner said Friday. ``It has stood in wind and water for more than 50 years. It's functioned longer than we expected.''
A three-man crew from Pittsburgh Tank and Tower in Ashland, Ky., is removing the tank, which held 225,000 gallons of water, enough for 5,000 people to take 5-minute showers. The town will use the county's Skyco tank to store the water until the new one is built. Skinner said the removal of the old tank and construction of the new one will have no effect on water rates.
Skinner said the removal of the towering structure - done at a cost of $14,000 - is not a complex procedure.
``It's almost like cutting down a tree,'' Skinner said. ``They started on the south side of the tank, and cut a pie-shaped piece out of it. Normally, it would naturally fall over. But this time, it didn't do as expected, so we used a tow truck and a cable, and pulled it down.''
On Friday, a huge jagged chunk of the metal tank rested on its side like a broken piece of eggshell. Once the tank is removed, the support structure will be removed piece by piece and sold to a Hampton Roads scrap iron dealer.
``With three people, it's all very organized,'' Skinner said. ``It's like a ballet.''
The new tank, to be built at a cost of $250,000, will be funded by the town and grant money from the state Department of Environmental Management. Construction should begin in about six months.
``We had planned to wait until later in the year to take the tank down,'' Skinner said. ``But with Bertha coming so early this year, we felt it was best to go ahead.
In past years, the tower was used for more than water storage.
``Up until about four or five years ago, it seemed like every high school class at Manteo painted the tower,'' Skinner said. ``It was almost like a rite of passage. But when we cleaned and painted the tower about five years ago, there was nothing on it. The way the ladder is set up, you almost have to be parallel to the ground as you climb up. It's scary. You wouldn't catch me up there.'' by CNB