General Information

• Start Date: February 2022
• Est. Completion Date: Late Fall 2023
• Location: 1601 Oakton Avenue
• Project Cost: $7,128,000
• Contractor: CB&I Tank Solutions
• Project Impacts: None

Project Description

This project consists of construction of a new elevated water storage tank, water main, access drive, storm sewer and underground detention, pavement patching, earth work, and landscape restoration.  

Project Updates

April 26, 2024: This week, the demolition began for the Pratt Boulevard water tower. This is the third phase of the new Elevated Water Tower project. 

The first phase included construction and site improvements for the new water tower located on the corner of Busse and Oakton. The new water tower went online in November 2023. The second phase involved the construction of a cellular monopole to accommodate the relocation of cell equipment from the old Pratt Boulevard water tower to the new cellular monopole. The cell vendors have all been relocated to the new monopole and are fully operational. The remaining work for this project includes landscaping and a decorative fence installation. The final portion of the new Elevated Water Tower project will include site grading and grass. 

October 27, 2023: Work on the elevated tank will continue next week, which will include installing the entrance gate and addressing punch list items.

October 13, 2023: The ornamental fence has been installed along with seed and blanket. Next week, the contractor will be installing the gate.  ComEd has not provided a power delivery date, but expects to schedule this work within the next 30 days.   Once ComEd can provide power, the SCADA system will be installed and then the water tower can be filled. 

September 15, 2023: CB&I has completed the curb and gutter work, paved the access road, and patched all of the utility trenches over the last few weeks. Site grading was completed and most of the decorative fence pillars were installed. The contractor has also begun installing topsoil.  Next week, the remaining fence pillars will be installed, and the fence installation will begin. 

August 4, 2023: This week, CB&I was on site to spread topsoil and prepare the subgrade of the driveway and prepare the curb and gutter base. Next week, the curb will be formed and poured.

July 28, 2023: This week, CB&I prepared the subgrade of the driveway and prepare the curb and gutter base. Next week, the curb will be, formed, and poured.

July 21, 2023: This week, the electrician was on site to install the conduit, electrical panel, and lights inside the water tower. The remaining asphalt was removed, and the site was graded. Next week, the curb will be prepped, formed, and poured.

June 30, 2023: This week, the conduit for the underground power lines was installed and the electric meter was placed. Temporary lighting installation also occurred. Next week, the interior room is scheduled to be installed, pending delivery. 

June 23, 2023: This week, CB&I completed the concrete foundations for fence pillars and the cable hole in the tower base was patched. Next week the electrician will be onsite to begin work running power underground and installing lights in the tank.

June 16, 2023: This week, CB&I completed painting the elevated tank. If necessary, they will return at the end of the project for a final touch-up. Work has begun to install poured concrete foundations for the perimeter fence pillars and pad outside the tower man door, the splash pad, and excavation for the last fire hydrant installation at the tower's base. This work will continue into next week.

June 9, 2023: This week, CB&I applied the exterior finish coat, interior dry finish coat, and laid out the logo. Next week, CB&I plans to finish the exterior finish coat and logo, which would complete the tank painting process.

June 2, 2023: This week CB&I completed the interior wet finish coat on the elevated tank and removed the containment system.  Next week CB&I plans to complete the exterior finish coat, interior dry finish coat, and apply the Makers Wanted logo. 

May 26, 2023: This week, CB&I finished painting the exterior intermediate coat and began to apply the interior wet finish coat and exterior finish coat. Concord was on site to remove the remaining storm sewer.  Next week CB&I plans to complete the interior wet finish coat and continue to apply the exterior finish coat.

May 19, 2023: This week, CB&I continued to apply the intermediate coat to the exterior and interior dry. They also stripe coated the interior wet. CB&I’s subcontractor has been on site spreading topsoil and grading.  Next week, CB&I will continue to apply the intermediate coat to the exterior, apply the finish coat to the interior wet, and apply the finish coat to the interior dry, depending on the weather.

May 12, 2023: This week, CB&I finished sandblasting and priming the exterior of the water tank and began to apply the intermediate coat to the exterior. Next week they will continue to apply the intermediate coat to the exterior of the tank, depending on the weather.

May 5, 2023: This week, CB&I sandblasted and primed the exterior stem and interior bowl. Next week they will continue to sandblast the exterior of the tank, depending on the weather.

April 28, 2023: This week, CB&I continued to haul out dirt from site grading and begin receiving new topsoil. The containment system has been completed, and CB&I intends to start sandblasting and priming the exterior weld seam next week.  

April 21, 2023: This week, CB&I hauled off the material from curb, storm sewer, and pavement that was removed and began to haul in black dirt. CB&I began setting up the containment system. Once the containment system is complete, the exterior weld seams will be sandblasted and primed.  

April 14, 2023: This week, the final phase of construction began at the new elevated water storage tank. The week started with the removal of the old pavement, curb, and storm sewer on the south side of the site. CB&I set up equipment and blasted and primed the interior dry weld seams. CB&I also began setting up the containment and prepared for blasting and priming the exterior weld seams.

January 20, 2023: CB&I has finished the construction of the new water tower at the southwest corner of Busse and Oakton and has begun demobilizing its equipment. Work will start again in the early spring with site restoration and final preparations of the steel for paint. The installation of the new road, concrete curb and gutter work, decorative fencing, and water tower painting are all scheduled to be completed this year. The project is still on schedule to be completed this fall.

January 13, 2023: Grinding and welding of the roof plates is complete for the elevated water storage tank located at the southwest corner of Busse and Oakton. The crane has also been disassembled. CB&I has decided to take advantage of the unseasonably warm weather and will continue working on smaller items initially planned for the spring. These items include installing condensation drains, the tank's ladder, exhaust hatches, and the lock for the door.  

January 6, 2023: CB&I completed more than half of the external welding on the roof plates this week. Some additional scaffolding was erected inside the upper ball to safely access welding roof plates from the inside. The frost vent and guardrail will be erected on the roof before the end of the week.

December 23, 2022: This week CB&I hung the roof plates at the top of the tower. Additionally, x-ray inspections of the welds on the upper and lower ball sections were taken. The x-rays will now be examined in the coming weeks. Aside from a great deal of welding, a few roof accessories are still left to install, namely the handrail and frost vent.

December 16, 2022: Due to bad weather, this week's focus was completing the horizontal seams between the upper and lower ball sections. CB&I has nearly finished welding all those sections. Ground assembly of the roof sections is almost completed, and the roof panels are scheduled to be installed by Thursday next week. On Tuesday, 12/20, more x-ray inspections are scheduled. CB&I's goal is to complete the welding of the final roof plates by the end of this month and then demobilize for the winter.

December 9, 2022: This week, CB&I completed hanging all of the upper ball plates and is currently welding the vertical seams.  Steel roof plates will be delivered with ground assembly of those sections to start next week.

December 2, 2022: CB&I removed the existing 8” water main on the north side of Goodyear to the ROW of Busse Rd. Utility removals are now complete for the north half of the project site. CB&I was able to continue welding the remaining vertical seams of the lower ball sections today. High winds prevented the installation of upper bowl plates this week. Completing this installation will likely run into late next week.

November 23, 2022: This week, CB&I continues to weld the lower tower ball sections which will likely continue into next week. They also attached a scaffold ladder to the tower crane to assist with accessing the exterior seams for welding. The upper ball plates are scheduled to be installed at the end of next week.  

November 18, 2022: CB&I installed most of the lower ball plates this week. The remaining lower ball plates should be up by early next week. Welding and site grading are planned for the short week next week. Upper ball plates are expected to be installed the week after Thanksgiving.

November 11, 2022: This week, CB&I installed the entire tower shaft, upper knuckle, inlet piping, overflow piping, and access. Rigging for the additional tower crane began this week, and welding of all the assemblies continued. Site grading began on the north half of the site and will continue next week.

October 21, 2022: CB&I finished welding the interior and exterior of the first tower shaft this week. The assembly of the shaft ladder, pipe supports, and guides for future installation of the inlet and overflow pipes continued this week. Another shaft section was delivered and will be erected next week. CB&I started ground assembly of the lower tower ball plates and will likely be completed next week.

October 14, 2022: This week, ground assembly and welding continued on the upper ball plates.  Pieces of the lower shaft are arriving each day and being stored on-site until the scheduled assembly next week.

September 30, 2022: This week, all four sections of the tower bell were installed on the ring wall.  Each section of the tower bell weighs nearly 11,000 lbs. On Friday September 30, the contractor is scheduled to start welding of the vertical seams.

September 16, 2022: This week, WF Johnston completed the installation of the base for the new elevated water tower by pouring the concrete floor for the valve and pipe room and installing a 20" butterfly valve on the riser pipe. Next week, the ironworkers from CB&I will be on site to begin receiving the first steel pieces from the fabrication plant in Texas. The steel bell plates are expected to be fully installed on the foundation ring wall by the end of next week.

September 2, 2022: WF Johnston began the week by pouring and stripping the concrete forms around the ring wall. They finished the workweek by installing the 20" water main at the 90° bend, formed, and poured concrete for the thrust block.

Next week, the electric subcontractors will install four 2" conduits for the electrical service and SCADA controls. At the same time, WF Johnston will complete the connection for the 20" water main and begin gravel backfill inside the tower ring. In addition, the floor for the valve and pipe room should be poured.

August 26, 2022: This week, WF Johnston completed the tower foundation and began framing the tower ring wall. Over 85 yards of concrete were needed to pour the concrete base of the elevated water storage tank. Next, the concrete tower ring wall will be poured. The tower ring wall is where the steel for the elevated water tower will be anchored.  This work is scheduled to be completed on Monday, August 29, at which time CB&I can start installing steel for the elevated water tank.

August 19, 2022: Earlier this week WF Johnston completed the excavation for the base of the elevated water tank. They also completed the installation and compaction of over four feet of stone for the base of the elevated water tank and poured a 3-inch concrete mud mat over the top of the compacted stone. Phase one of the elevated water tank base is complete. The next step is to install radial reinforcement in preparation for more concrete installation, which will begin next week.  The underground storm trap, storm sewers, and water main have all been successfully installed.  

August 12, 2022: This week the contractor completed the installation of the storm trap and began construction of the storm sewers that enter the storm trap.  The gravel road base over the storm trap was also completed.  The excavation for the foundation of the elevated water tank was completed, and the first course of gravel base was installed.  

August 5, 2022: This week the work at the elevated water tank went back to full swing with the recent ending of the labor conflict.  The contractor has excavated the entire trench for the storm trap and has installed over 50 sections.  Crews are scheduled to work six days a week to keep the project on schedule.  Next week the contractor intends to begin excavation for the foundation of the elevated tank.

July 15, 2022: This week, Bolder resumed work at the Busse & Oakton water tower site with a small crew to remove the remaining asphalt and curb. The crew also continues to excavate the storm trap. Approximately one-third of the total area has been excavated for the storm trap.

Due to the ongoing labor conflict, construction will be put on hold until the required stone becomes available.

July 1, 2022: This week, Bolder completed both water main connections to the existing water main on Busse Road. This completed water main installation except for the 20-inch main to the planned water storage tank.  Next week, Bolder will likely chlorinate and pressure test the currently installed water main.  

Due to ongoing labor relations conflicts, the project has stalled. At this point, Bolder can no longer secure the 3-inch crushed stone required to continue excavating for the StormTrap underground detention system.

June 24, 2022: This week, Bolder Construction has installed the 12" water main along the north side of the Goodyear property. Bolder Construction also began preparing and excavating for the last two connections to the Busse water main. These connections are scheduled for a Monday evening and will require a shutdown of the 12" Busse water main.

 Due to ongoing labor relations conflicts, excavation of the storm trap had been on hold. However, Bolder Construction secured the necessary stone to start excavating the storm trap and storm sewers. This week, crews installed potions of the 12" and 15" storm sewer mains and multiple structures. Excavation for the storm trap is tentatively scheduled to start early next week.