El Centro landmarks felled by 7.2 earthquake; South Carolina demolition team to bring down water tower
April 9, 2010 @ 1:29 pm
Landmark structures in El Centro that withstood numerous historically large earthquakes over the decades finally
The church spire at the Church of Jesus Christ Latter-Day Saints in El Centro is removed Friday, April 9, 2010. The tower, standing at 8th and Ross for 47 years, suffered a dangerous crack following the Easter Sunday 7.2 quake.
suffered defeat in the 7.2-magnitude earthquake on Easter Sunday. The Mormon tower came down on Friday, and the El Centro water tower two blocks away on 8th Street will be gone by the evening of Thursday, April 15, according to the city manager’s office.
The 30-foot church spire that has been a beacon to neighbors of and church-goers to the Church of Jesus Christ Latter-Day Saints at 8th and Ross for 47 years was taken down Friday morning because of a crack just below the roofline that formed following Sunday’s quake.
A backhoe equipped with what workers called a “breaker” pounded through the center of the tower, while welders broke through reinforcing rebar for nearly a half-hour before the spire was loosened enough to be safely pulled off.
A church elder, David DeSpain, standing by watching the demolition said, “We’ll rebuild the tower, just not as tall.”
Meanwhile, there are no plans to replace the nearly 100-year-old water tower at 8th and Vine, according to city officials. The tank at the top of the 150-foot tower has been empty for more than 10 years, and it has just remained a token landmark structure in the city.
It wasn’t until Wednesday that city water officials discovered that the base of the water tower was unsound, causing the
The El Centro water tower at 8th and Vine looks like it has for the last nearly 100 years on Friday, April 9, 2010. But damages to the bolts in the base of the tower following the April 4 earthquake will be bringing the tower down.
evacuation of dozens of tenants of the Villa Apartments on Wensley Ave. situated closest to the tower.
El Centro Police Sgt. Jerry Novak, who led the evacuation of some of the apartments on Wednesday, likened the damage to water tower bolts to “pulling a Tootsie roll apart.”
Novak, who was interviewed Wednesday night, said he was told that the bolts at the base of the tower were stretched to their limit during the earthquake. “As I put it, like a tootsie roll, you pull it hard enough and it’ll eventually get thinner and pull apart,” Novak said.
The city manager’s office said on Friday that it has contracted with Iseler Demolition out of Romeo, Michigan for the dismantling of the water tower starting on Wednesday, April 14 and finishing the next day. Iseler’s website describes the company as specializing in the demolition of water towers.
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CORRECTION: Iseler Demolition, Inc. is located out of Romeo, Michigan (not Myrtle Beach, SC).
Have anyone noticed that earthquake is a bit frequent these days? . Does climate change have any thing to do with earthquake?
Not real convinced it’s climate change or ‘global warming.’ I think that, historically, we were in for a major quake in this region, and maybe even a few more. But, I’m not a seismologist. USGS is the absolute best source for Q&A.