Concrete Water Tank

NW Mailing List nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org
Wed Feb 11 22:43:12 EST 2015


Water has a density of ~62.3 lbs per cubic foot.  A round water tank  30 ft 
wide (inside diameter) and 60 ft tall would hold approximately 42400 cubic  
ft of water weighing over 2,600,000 lbs (1300 tons) if filled all the way 
to the  top.   Assuming a 1 ft thick wall, the tank would require  
approximately 5840 cubic ft of concrete weighing ~875,000 lbs.  The  concrete is 
heavy, but the water is heavy too.
 
Jason Maxwell
 
 
In a message dated 2/11/2015 5:58:58 A.M. Central Standard Time,  
nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org writes:

 
 
The weight of water is incidental to the weight of the structure.   While 
water is 8.33 pounds per gallon, concrete is about 150 pounds per cubic  foot 
or about two tons per cubic yard.  I don’t know the number of cubic  yards 
of concrete in a water tank, but it is many.  The weight of the  structure 
is huge and the weight of water in relation is incidental.  A  water tank 
that has one-foot thick walls, sixty feet tall and about 30 feet  across has 
many cubic yards of concrete.  The footers and foundation has  to support a 
huge weight.
 
Bud Jeffries
 
 

 
From: _NW Mailing List_ (mailto:nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org)  
Sent: Sunday, February 08, 2015 9:07 PM
To: _NW Mailing List_ (mailto:nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org)  
Subject: Re: Concrete Water Tank


 

 
Chief Engineer's drawing L-230, "Norfolk & Western  Railroad [sic] Standard 
200,000 and 250,000 Gallon Reinforced Concrete Water  Tank," 6/17/19 (NWHS 
No. HS-D00252) that I mentioned in a previous posting  shows a 9' - 6" wide 
circular footing with the bottom of the footing 6' - 6"  below base of rail. 
 A "Detail of Footing where Piles Are Used" on the  same drawing shows a 5' 
- 6" wide circular footing bearing on 50 piles (size  not specified), with 
the bottom of the footer likewise 6' - 6" below base of  rail.  A note under 
the latter detail reads, "If larger foundation is  required than shown on 
drawing, size to be satisfactory to the Engineer of the  N. and W. Railroad 
[sic]."
 
Gordon Hamilton

----- Original Message ----- 
From:  _NW Mailing List_ (mailto:nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org)  
To: _N&W Mailing List_ (mailto:nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org)  
Sent: Saturday, February 07, 2015 8:25  AM
Subject: Re: Concrete Water Tank
 
 
This discussion can be carried to another level.
 
A 200,000 gal water tank holds about 800 tons of water (200,000   gals X 8 
lb gal = 800 tons.)  Spread that weight out over a dozen  footers, and each 
footer must support (only) 66 tons of water + some  additional load for the 
structure.
 
That is not a lot of weight for a footer to carry, but I am wondering  how 
footings were handled in places like the Dismal Swamp?  How deeply  were 
they carried down, and how does one excavate to bed rock in a  swamp...?
 
A 200,000 gal tank could fill twenty very old 10,000 gal tenders, ten  
modern 20,000 gal tenders, or 6.6  30,000 gal whopper tenders.   This makes me 
wonder about the re-fill rate.  Anyone know the hourly  capacity of the 
steam, distillate engine and electric motor pumps which  were, over the years, 
used to re-fill the N&W tanks?
 
Some railroads had a Superintendent of Water Service.  Who, on the  N&W, 
wore the King-Waterboy hat?  And did this function (water  supply) fall under 
the Motive Power or the MW Department?
 
-- abram burnett
 
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