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he Worlds of Fun water tower is located just across the highway from Kansas City, Missouri 's Worlds of Fun amusement park. Te water tower was built in 1955. It has been a long-standing symbol of city pride since it was frst adorned with its colorful pattern in 1973 when the amuse- ment park opened to the public. Tnemec coatings have been applied to the water tank ever since, withstanding the test of time, as well as exposure to the elements. For this particular recoat job, Tomas Industrial Coatings (TIC) was contracted to prep and paint both the interior and exterior of the tank. According to Wayne Long, project manager at TIC, the scope called for the crew to complete the work in the interior of the tank the frst year and then come back and prep and coat the exterior during the second year of the project. And while both components of the scope of work had certain similarities — the tank had to be completely drained prior to commencement of work, the steel surfaces were to be abrasive blasted, and Tnemec coatings were to be applied — they were actually two very diferent beasts that required unique approaches. "Te interior and the exterior of the tank were challenging for very diferent reasons," explained Long. Phase 1: The Inside Scoop As the 12-man crew from TIC mobilized, the frst order of business was to create an access point for entry into the tank. "A hole was cut in the catwalk area and a pre-manufactured hatch was welded into place. Tis provided a man way for entry into the tank," said Long. Once the crew had gained access to the interior of the tank, the real fun began as two unanticipated events led to a change in plans. Te frst surprise was the existence of tension rods within the tank. "Tese rods were still in place from when the tank was built decades ago. Usually these rods are removed once the tank is fnished, but for some reason, they remained there. It was decided that they needed to be removed before we could do any work," said Long. Te crew enlisted the help of Roger Clark Welding, a welding subcontractor that could remove the tension rods and get the TIC crew back to the business of prepping and coating the water tank. Unfortunately, the TIC team soon hit another unexpected roadblock: corroded steel. "As we began abrasive blasting the roof, we started blasting through structural support members. We stopped blasting the roof right away, and contacted the city for approval to repair the structural steel. We had to change gears from blasting and coating to repair," stated Long. In the meantime, the crew abrasive blasted and primed the foor of the tank with Tnemec's Series 91-H2O Hydro-Zinc. Once the city approved the structural repairs, Long 40 NOVEMBER 2014 COATINGSPROMAG.COM PHOTOS COURTESY THOMAS INDUSTRIAL COATINGS AND TNEMEC BY JENNIFER FRAKES Worlds of Fun: The Ins and Outs of an Iconic Water Tower EPOXY TANK STEEL