The City of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, had been up against water system storage and distribution concerns for years. They knew they needed to boost system capacity and pressure, but were not quite prepared to invest in the construction of a new water tower.

Instead, the community got creative. In January 2020, City leadership and the Lake Geneva Utility Commission embarked upon a unique engineering feat: with the assistance of a large crane, they would lift the existing Dodge Water Tower and raise it 30 feet, then weld it atop the new tower extension. While this was not the first time such a water-tower raising had been attempted, it was certainly one of only a few. And, something that had to be done right.

In 2019, MSA was asked to assist with the project and was hired to provide design, permitting and bidding services to the City and Utility Commission. There were a number of challenges associated with the project, including tight site constraints, overhead utility lines, a nearby cell tower, and the need to close down the adjacent street to traffic during the lifting event to assure full safety. Ultimately, the 200,000-gallon spheroid tower would be fully raised 30 feet, and set atop a new 30-foot fabricated carbon steel extension, which would then be welded together on site. The new tower was slightly modified to include a new handrail and antenna corral, and was finished with both exterior and interior surface re-coating.

Two cranes were utilized on tower lift day – one to place the new extension piece, and the other to lift the tank itself. When lift day arrived, the crews were fortunate to have mild weather and very little wind. The lift went smoothly, and was eagerly viewed by a number of project partners, stakeholders and interested local residents.