APWA Chapter Honors MWH's St. Joseph Water Reservoir Replacement Project

The Southern California chapter of the American Public Works Association recognized the St. Joseph Water Reservoir Replacement Project in Arcadia, Calif., as a Project of the Year in the Environmental Water and Wastewater category.

Planned, designed and inspected by engineering consultant MWH for the city of Arcadia, the St. Joseph Reservoir project included the demolition of an aging 3-million-gallon reservoir that no longer met the current seismic-resistant design criteria. The demolition of this reservoir created space for a new 5-million-gallon square concrete reservoir. The new reservoir design considered the existing clearances from tanks, pipes and a booster pump station, which continued to operate during the replacement reservoir's construction. As part of the site-specific reservoir design, the engineering team was able to 'shoe-horn' the new 5-million gallon reservoir into the tight space next to an existing 6-million-gallon reservoir.

MWH also incorporated a number of architectural features into the exterior design to help the reservoir blend with surrounding business and community buildings. These features include architectural treatments such as arches on the walls and cornices/parapets on the reservoir façade as well as a number of trees and accent lights.

Overall, this new 5-million-gallon reservoir better meets seismic-codes and provides the City with expanded and reliable water resources, which will serve far into the future. The St. Joseph Water Reservoir is part of a planned capital improvement program for Arcadia's ongoing water system upgrades.

Source: APWA