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WATER STORAGE—Above, city officials look inside the Meadows Reservoir on April 13 after part of the roof was removed. Photos by MICHAEL COONS/Acorn Newspapers
It will be months before Thousand Oaks has full access to its normal water supply, but the city is one step closer after raising the roof last week.
A 50-year-old reservoir, which held 3.4 million gallons, or roughly 10% of the city’s water storage capacity, was examined last week for structural soundness.
While members of the city’s public works department await a final analysis, public works Director Cliff Finley said things look promising.
On April 13 contractors used two giant cranes to lift six 30-ton sections of roof off the partially buried Meadows Reservoir concrete tank so inspectors could enter and see firsthand the damage reported in November. The structure was too damaged to enter safely for an extended period without the roof segment being removed.
As part of the inspection, the contractor cut out a portion of the reservoir’s concrete floor and found that the area between the footings appears to be bedrock, Finley said.
The tentative plan for repair— pending the inspectors’ final analysis—is for the contractors to place a larger footing in the area of the cracked one so the weight from the roof will be spread out over a larger area.
At left, a work crew uses a crane to lower an excavator into the reservoir so an inspection can be made of the damages, which were reported in November.
“The bottom line is, from what we’ve seen so far—and I hate to speak ahead of the report—is we are on schedule to finish the repairs by the fall,” Finley said.
In November, a city staff member discovered a leak in the reservoir that sits atop a hill just north of Janss Road and east of Erbes Road. Once the reservoir was drained, cracks were found on the floor, on the base of one column and in the main girder supporting the concrete roof.
At its Feb. 8 meeting, the City Council declared the condition of the reservoir an emergency and approved spending up to $650,000 on the inspection: $120,000 for the inspection team and $500,000 for the contractor lifting the roof.
Crews use a pair of cranes to lift a double-T beam that makes up the roof of the Meadows reservoir on April 13 in Thousand Oaks.
Without the final analysis, Finley couldn’t say how much it will cost to fix the reservoir. He said staff members will have an estimate by Tuesday, when they plan to go before the council with a full report.
The meeting will take place at 6 p.m. Tues., April 26 in the council chambers at City Hall, 2100 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd.