U.S. Water News Online
NEW PROVIDENCE, Iowa -- Months after a fatal crane accident, members of a small central Iowa community are looking to build their first water tower -- and move on.
National Tank Corp. of Indianola was installing a water tower in July when the crane toppled and the tower crashed to the ground.
Alan Wagner of South Carolina, a part-owner of National Tank, was killed in the accident. Another partner in the business, Bill Stinchcomb of Ohio, and a third man, Shawn Cochran of Minnesota, were injured.
``We're not giving up. It takes more than that to get us down,'' said Morris Whitehead, mayor of this town of 240 people. City officials had been discussing the purchase of a water tower for years.
Workers have begun to weld together pieces of the new 50,000-gallon tower, purchased from Buffalo. The town is waiting for a general contractor to put in new footings for the water tower.
Gary Sindelar, president of Ryken Engineering, one of the groups that worked on the project, said Wagner had become friends with many people in the community before the accident.
Wagner and other National Tank employees had visited the site several times between the fall of 1999 and the spring of 2000.
``It was more than just a construction accident,'' Sindelar said.
After the accident, pieces of the crane and the water tower laid on the ground for nearly 10 days.
``It was a blessing to get it out of there,'' Sindelar said. Putting up a new tower will help the memory fade, he said.
The new tower should be complete early next summer. Contractors are expected to begin erecting the new tower after it is assembled in the next few weeks.
The new tower will provide residents with better service, including increased water pressure, a back-up supply, and fire protection.
``It'll give us some recognition,'' Whitehead said. The town's name will be painted on the tower once it is erected.
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