Concrete Control Methods in the Construction of a Filtered Water Reservoir

The purpose of this paper is to bring before the Association the application of the newer and more scientific methods of field control of concrete to the construction of an important water works structure. The writer hopes it will prove of interest to the society and a benefit to those engaged in concrete work, particularly in water works structures. This reservoir was constructed in 1926 at the Fall Creek Station of the Indianapolis Water Company by the local organization of the Thompson-Binger Co. of New York, General Contractors. It occupies a space approximately 270 feet square and has a gross area of over 60,000 square feet, with an overall depth of 16 feet, and a storage capacity of 6 million gallons. The roof is a flat slab, 8 inches thick supported by circular columns, 20 inches in diameter, spaced 16 feet centers and resting upon a groined-arch floor having a minimum thickness of 8 inches. Local ground water conditions made necessary the provision that the structure and its loading should have weight sufficient to balance an upward pressure of ground water at flood times with the reservoir nearly empty, hence the groined arch floor design. Incidentally, the arched floor forms valleys which permit easy cleaning.