Jones & Henry has a long history of designing elevated water storage solutions for the City of Kalamazoo.
Facing a shortage of drinking water storage in the high-pressure district, The City of Kalamazoo turned to Jones & Henry to assist in the design of a 2.5 MG composite, elevated storage tank. The tower was located on City-owned land adjacent to US-131. It was designed with several innovative features including a perimeter staircase in lieu of ladders, LED lighting, and an advanced thermal-break coating system to eliminate condensation-initiated corrosion.
None of the existing City towers sport logos. Due to its proximity to a major highway and the City’s pride in the Kalamazoo Promise educational program, the decision was made to display the “Promise’s” logo on the traffic-facing sides of the tower. Jones & Henry coordinated the positioning and artwork for the logo. Mindful of the public relations portion of the project, we assisted the City in the planning and execution of press events designed to bring positive attention to the project and the City’s public outreach.
To connect the tower to the system, 2,600 + feet of 24-inch diameter water transmission main was designed. Routing of the main included a jack and bore crossing of both North and Southbound US-131. 95%+ of the alignment paralleled US-131 and occupied space in the right of way. Jones & Henry coordinated permitting efforts and maintained close contact with MDOT to ensure that proper installation occurred. Following construction, Jones & Henry utilized GPS locating equipment to produce the most accurate as-constructed drawings possible.
This project was awarded a Southwest Michigan Branch award from the American Society of Civil Engineers for Quality of Life in 2021 and State Project of the Year (Structures $5 to $5 Million) from the Michigan Chapter of the American Public Works Association. The project has been prominently featured in several engineering and trade publications.
