Work completed on Marysville water tower

After months of maintenance work the new face of the Marysville water tower was unveiled last month.

The tower hasn’t been used for utilities since the late 1980s, but the city still has to keep the structure maintained.

In 2020 the Marysville City Council instructed staff to begin work to maintain the tower and budgeted about $492,000 for the project.

The purpose was to preserve a historical landmark for the city. The water tower turned 100 last November.

The entire exterior received a re-coating during the maintenance.

“The tower didn’t just get a new paint job, it was a three-part industrial coating,” said Dave Rasar, an engineering technician with the city of Marysville’s Public Works.

Contractors initially sand blasted the previous coating down to bare metal and then put on a corrosion resistant Zinc foundation, a primer coat and then an industrial coat and paint on top.

“That provides the color that you can see now,” said Rasar.

The paint colors were chosen to match the city’s new logo, which was put onto both sides of the water tower.

“Personally I think it looks really good,” said Rasar.

Because of the chemicals being blasted during the coating, a covering was put in place for the duration of the work to protect the rest of Comeford Park.

In addition to the coating, other improvements were made to the water tower.

“There is a new electrical system for the Christmas lights,” and an entirely new set of Christmas lights was put in for the holiday season.

Safety measures were put in for workers, such as two anchors on the roof meant for fall protection and a hatch that opens to the inside of the tower.

“That is so we have easy access for inspections or for any time we need to do repairs in there,” said Rasar.

The project faced some challenges due to the weather interfering with the construction schedule along the way, said Rasar.

Strong windstorms in November occurred right after the initial scaffolding was put up.

“It actually bent some of the scaffolding,” said Rasar, who added that portions of it had to be rebuilt.

A January cold snap also delayed work on the tower.

“During that period we basically couldn’t get any work done,” he said.

The new coating is expected to last about 25 to 30 years.

“Mostly I’m impressed with the longevity of the product that we were able to get,” said Rasar.

“So we shouldn’t be expected any rust during those years,” he said.