Preliminary studies of a cabled water tower

Abstract

This paper presents the concept of the cabled water tower and describes the preliminary investigation, design, construction, instrumentation and testing of a 1:12 scale model of a prototype of a 100,000 gal (453 m³) capacity. The prototype consists of a central steel core of 2.38 ft (703 mm) dia and an external system of cables in form of a hyperboloid of revolution supported vertically between two fixed rings. A water proofing membrane is placed inside the cable system distributing the water load onto the cables. Test results established the feasibility of the new concept and the method of analysis and design of cabled water towers developed here was validated.