Day 140
Now that’s some stuff
August 13th, 2010
I'm walking across America.
That's the idea, at least. I'm walking westward from New York City for nine months or so. If everything goes according to plan, I'll be in Oregon when the clock runs out. If nothing goes according to plan, maybe I'll end up in Peru or Mongolia or Pennsylvania. You can read all about the details of my trip if you're so inclined.
Email me at matt@imjustwalkin.com
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Here's my progress so far:
Okay, what is it?
Hey! I made it to first.
If you zoom in real close of flickr you can see a couple wind turbine tips over the top of the mountain in the left corner of this picture. Other than that, this sure is some weird stuff. I see wheels on the tanker which says excavating on the side of it, there is your “keys’ on the blue sign and a chair just to the side behind the sign. Any locals care to enlighten this Ohioan.?
I don’t know how the keys to Faith, Love, Prayer and Honesty are connected to this, but maybe the fire hydrant is somehow.
I think it is a water tank for developers to develop the land, I’m not sure though.
That sounds like a good guess to me, Ruthie.
OK, so we’ve got a tank trailer on stilts with a large bag flapping at the front, a hydrant with some kind of pipe kluge coming out of it, a sign with buoys handing under it and a miniature Stonehenge just to the right. Yup, I’d say that’s some stuff, all right.
How d’ya suppose they raised that tank? More important, how are they going to get it down?
Here is one way to get it up or take it down:
http://www.wateronwheels.com/M%20I%20S%20C%20PICS/20%20_0CUT%20FIRE%20TOWER%20BANKHEAD.JPG
A flatbed truck with a scissor lift is backed under the tank to take it to another site.
I can’t see from the angle the picture is taken, but there should be a cap to open behind the platform (the flat extension with the canvas ‘windsock’ hanging from it.) The chains hanging there may make it possible to open the tank while it is elevated to fill transport water tankers that pull directly under the ‘hopper’.
http://www.flybouldercity.com/mVault004/Water%20Truck%20Filling.JPG
The underside of the platform is rather rough looking and the tires look sales-floor ready. Judging by the gravel, silt and tire tracks digging deep into the roadway under the platform, the pull up and fill up method must be the primary purpose for this set up.
Also check out the industrial pump located towards the back of the frame work that holds the reservoir up. Now look at a similar one being used in Ghana to refill a well that supplies an apartment complex:
http://www.ghana-pedia.org/org/images/stories//watertruck1.jpg
Thompson Brothers Excavating (name on side of the tank) does a fair share of the construction and civil engineering in this region of Washington State, so while an ideal use would be for fighting forest fires, this one is most likely used in providing water for aggregate mixing, providing water to wash down contaminated equipment/vehicles, to keep the dust down on newly excavated land to meet air quality limits or to clean off roadways of dirt their equipment has left on public roads at the entrance to a construction site.
Tags: Mobile water reservoir, elevated water tank, mobile water tender, Mobile Water Helicopter Dip Tanks,
A google image for ” Mobile Water Helicopter Dip Tanks” shows some Hollywood action film style images. Stunning.
I started this investigation with the WTWR-2 phrase on the tank. That only resulted in finding the acronym is from a movie by the name of “When Things Were Rotten”. Water Tank Water Reservoir-2? Maybe, but other input is appreciated!
Its a portable , stackable tank to fill some stuff
OK – There is no prize offered but…. There are seven pipe like elements rising up to the tanker body. My guess is that six pipes are indeed supporting the tank and the seventh ( near the front) is a water feeder line from the pump like structure under the tank at ground level. This tank is used to fill either farm or construction vehicles from the well feeding the tank. The overhang of the tank extends over the road area to fill a top feed tanker that is rolling stock. the cloth like material is probably a flexible feed tube and the rope or chain material is the valve activator. Yea me!
Well all of that explanation sounds plausible John… I’ll go w/that!!
I don’t think the scissor lift that Juju mentions above would work here. Here is my guess: There are actually eight pipes, six hollow supports and two hydraulic cylinders…the one in front and a matching one in the rear (hidden behind the middle left hollow support). All eight pass through the tank (note three visible tubes on top) when collapsed to allow transport of the entire rig on the highway. There appears to be a generator/pump in the rear; the small white tank in the middle bottom either holds hydraulic fluid or fuel for the pump…there may be a second smaller tank hidden behind it. You can see one inch hydraulic lines along the right side leading to the bottom of the front cylinder. When filled with fluid, pistons inside would lift up the large (empty) tank. Once raised, the fire hydrant at right fills the tank via a supply line hidden by the grass to the two inch vertical pipe in the rear next to the ladder. My only concern is that the whole thing would appear to be top heavy once filled with water, especially in high winds which, judging from the wind turbines, might be an issue. I suspect the large tabs with holes at the top are for missing guy wires. Does anyone know a good civil engineer who can give an opinion?
cleary you have a PhD in something…congrats!
i think it belongs to afore-mentioned aliens!
Now those are MUSTS in life…faith, love, prayer, and honesty.
nope, sorry, yer all wrong. it’s amazing mailbox #INFINITY!
my first thought (without looking) is… so this is what the anhydrous ammonia tank has come to… but I like charlie’s explanation best…
I found the website for the company that owns it, Thompson Bros Excavating, but no one is answering the phones on Sat morning. Maybe I’ll try back Monday. Here’s the website http://www.thompsonbrosexcavating.com/index.html
It is so water trucks can fill their tanks and then go wet down the gravel roads. When it is harvest time and you get semi after semi going in and out, if you didn’t the dust would be unbearable.
This is Incredible.
Wow – I’m getting a brain-cramp from reading all of these comments. First day back from vacation, and most of my brain is still hanging out at the lake. TMI! :) (I know, that’s not what TMI is used for, but sometimes it really is just too much information for this brain to handle.)
Amanda is closest to being right. It is a surge tank that takes in water to rapidly fill a 30 ton tanker.
The tanker is used to wet down the layers of dirt in a cut and fill operation.
To level a large area, the earth movers slice off high spots and layer the dirt in 8 inch deep layers in the low spots. The rollers come and compress the dirt back to 98% compaction. To do that the earth has to be a certain moisture and no deeper than 8 inches.
The tankers add water to the layers to get the dirt to the right moisture.
They also spray to keep the dust down so as not to be fined by the EPA.
An 8000 gallon tanker can fill in one minute with this tank on stilts. The wind bag fits in the fill hole on the top of the tanker.
Very cool stuff.