Pumps Put Up 5-Million Gallon Water Tank in Record Time March 2003

Jennison Construction Company — leaders in tank structures within the Western United States — has finished construction of the Parker (Colo.) Water District's 5-MG Hilltop Reservoir located on Singing Hills Road in Douglas County, one of the fastest growing counties in the United States.

Construction of the 5-million-gallon tank was important to the district since the tank was needed to meet emergency and domestic storage needs in the district’s service area south and east of the town of Parker.

From a concrete pumping point of view, three major steps occurred to quickly construct the water tank. First, three Putzmeister concrete boom pumps — a 46X-Meter, a 52Z-Meter and a 58-Meter from Lucht’s Concrete Pumping fleet in Denver— poured the 210-foot diameter base slab. In record time, 594 cubic yards of concrete were efficiently pumped, promptly unloading 60 mixer truckloads to finish the slab in only four hours.

Then, the tank walls were pumped using the largest unit in Lucht’s fleet – the 58-Meter boom pump. This Putzmeister unit was ideal because of its exceptional 174-foot horizontal reach. Nothing else could reach the backside of the wall because a portion of the tank was cut into a hill, and excavation work prevented close access by other pumping equipment.

58-Meter proved ideal “Because of its extremely long reach, the Putzmeister 58-Meter proved ideal for this aspect of the job. Plus, because of its other popular features, our long-reaching 58-Meter is busy all the time, basically running non-stop all day,” said Tim Swindle, general manager of Lucht’s Concrete Pumping.

A 52Z-Meter was then utilized to finish the remainder of the 35-foot-tall tank located away from the hill’s inset. Altogether, the circular walls required a total of 1,200 yards of concrete.

Finally the lid of the water tank was next in line for pumping. It required 795 yards of concrete, efficiently placed by the two Putzmeister 52Z-Meter units and the one 58-Meter unit. This pour was done in only five hours.

The 58-Meter featured the ability to attain 260 yards an hour and the 52Z- and 46X-Meter units were rated at 210 cubic yards an hour. And although the concrete was dispatched from batch plants 15 miles away, the Putzmeister equipment was still able to achieve outputs around 200 cubic yards an hour.

Versatility of five-section boom is key Paul Hisler, Lucht’s regional sales manager, noted, “The key utilization of the five-section Putzmeister 52Z is its ability to stretch the first section vertically up the tank’s wall. It can then extend the other four-sections conveniently across the top base for the most effective reach in placing concrete atop the lid, conveniently reaching the center. This is not possible with four-section competitive units, as they overshoot the vertical reach by about 15 feet and then lose precious horizontal reach."

Bob Bates of Bates Engineering said, “With the efforts of Lucht’s Concrete Pumping, Jennison Construction and Aggregate Industries, these were some of the most efficient pours we have ever experienced.”

Owner Steve Lucht said, “Superior equipment, customer service and operator training give our customers the ultimate end result … the lowest cost for concrete placement and a better finished product than our competition.”

Lucht’s also prides itself on all field sales personnel being trained and qualified to operate any pump in the company’s fleet. This assists operators while on the job and proves to be an important customer service advantage in today‘s competitive marketplace.

The Hilltop Water Tank project was started in August 2001 and completed 15 months later in November 2002. The construction of three more water tanks is being considered within the next two years to accommodate even further growth.

JOB SPECS: General contractor: Jennison Construction – Englewood, Colo. Pumping contractor: Lucht’s Concrete Pumping – Denver Engineering: Bates Engineering – Lakewood, Colo. Ready-mix supplier: Aggregate Industries – Denver Equipment: Putzmeister concrete boom pumps – a 58-Meter, (2) 52Z-Meter and a 46X-Meter