With loads of anticipation I had watched the sand-blasting crew set up shop on this water tower for the last few weeks. Periodically these big steel drinking water reservoirs in the sky have to be stripped of their old paint before being given a new coat. This meant the inside was bone dry, a rare opportunity. I mean how many times do you get to walk around inside of the tank of a water tower?
May 192010
Jan 232010
The kind with stairs. The big fat ones. I’d wanted to climb one of these for a while. Had to leave my car in a sketchy spot. Had to climb a barbed wire fence with a mean looking dog barking its head off at me. Had to dyno the bottom of the ladder from a small bolt as a foothold. These last two made for a nice challenge on what would have been a rather mundane mission.
Feb 182009
How’d it start? By hopping a fence. how else? We hussled across the dirt and gravel lot to the base of the tower. Wedging our way past large stacks of pre-cast concrete sections, we traced the circumference of the tube that was mid-way through construction. The red blinking light on the tip of the derrick way up high had caught our attention from the highway. That red and white striped beam along with a few hundred feet of steel cable is what enables workers to hoist those pre-cast sections and build this massive water tower piece by piece.
Nov 082008
Twice this pale green behemoth had eluded me until I was finally able to chalk it up as mission complete. The first attempt ended in total failure as I had arrived on scene minus a very important length of rope and some prussicks. I never made it off the ground. On the second run rain moved in to ruin my night just as I made it to the top. Descending an un-caged ladder with no fall protection while the rungs are soaking wet is enough to keep you thinking about all the stuff you’d miss should your grip fail.
