Iconic Gwinnett water towers coming down

By David Wickert

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Say your last goodbyes to Gwinnett County’s iconic I-85 water towers.

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Vino Wong, vwong@ajc.com Gwinnett County's landmark water towers started coming down last week and the work will continue over the next several weeks.

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Vino Wong, vwong@ajc.com The Gwinnett Board of Commissioners has a $149,000 contract with Tristar of America Inc. to demolish the tanks.

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LOUIE FAVORITE, AJC staff The water towers in 2002 as seen from I-85.

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A contractor has begun demolishing the towers on Goshen Springs Road near Jimmy Carter Boulevard. They’ll be gone in three to four weeks.

The two tanks have proclaimed “Success Lives Here” and “Gwinnett is Great” for more than three decades. They once held 2 million gallons of water, helped pressurize area water mains and provided water in times of high demand.

But water system improvements have made the towers obsolete. Last March the county Board of Commissioners approved a $149,000 contract with Tristar of America Inc. to demolish those tanks and several other tanks and pump stations.

The company already has demolished a large tank on Medlock Bridge Road near Spalding Drive and another tank in Duluth.

The county expects to save about $100,000 annually in operating costs and a similar amount in capital costs when all of the structures are demolished.

The material from the tanks will be cut into small pieces and taken to a scrap metal yard, where they likely will be shredded and shipped to a smelting facility to be melted for recycling.

To view progress on the demolition, visit www.constructioncam.com/tristar/index.htm