Reservoirs – City of Westminster

City of Westminster

Scope of Work

Design and Analysis of Tank Foundation; Material Procurement and Fabrication; Project Management; Tank Construction and Painting; Quality Assurance

Summary

In September 1998, disaster struck the City of Westminster, California, and its 90,000 residents. A 20 x 20 foot, 8-inch-thick panel in one of the city's 30-year-old concrete reservoirs ruptured without warning. In just three minutes, the city was flooded by five million gallons of water. Waves crested as high as eight feet, injuring four people and damaging 14 vehicles and 50 structures.

After the incident, the city demolished the damaged concrete reservoir as well as an adjacent five million gallon concrete reservoir. City officials then retained McDermott to replace the reservoirs with an all-welded steel storage system. The city opted to have the new reservoirs constructed of welded steel due to its zero leakage tolerance, ductile behavior for seismic loads, low initial cost and long service life.

McDermott has provided tens of thousands of reliable steel water storage tanks of various sizes and configurations across the United States. Our welded steel tanks have demonstrated their reliability and durability to municipalities for more than 100 years.

McDermott designed the new steel reservoirs and their foundations and also handled the procurement, fabrication, construction and painting of the structures. We completed the project in 15 months. The new reservoirs increased the city's water storage capacity by 60 percent.

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