Repairing a 55-year-old water tank requires a lot of pre-planning. 

The historic significance of the tank, the integrity of the structure and the need to take a modern approach to repair, must all be factored in to how you approach the task.

As part of Yarra Valley Water's water service reservoirs program, Ventia was tasked with carrying out maintenance works on an old concrete standpipe tank in Gembrook, in Melbourne's outer east. 

The tank was constructed in 1965 and stands 30 metres tall. The project aimed to extend the life of the structure and ensure it could continue providing drinking water to the local community for many years to come. 

It was also important to maintain the historic elements of the tank. 

_{Pictured: The side of the concrete standpipe tank prior to the precision cut}
 

To ensure the works were carried out safely and with minimal impact to surrounding customers, the project needed to be delivered utilising some innovative solutions.

Under project engineer Nathan Haupt, the team got to work creating a plan for how to get the job done. 

"Working on the concrete lip edge of the tank, we needed to develop a solution that could get the job done properly, whilst also ensuring it was safe to do so and caused minimal impact to nearby schools and businesses," Nathan said.

"One of the critical innovations the team developed and fabricated, was our own remote-controlled concrete cutter."
 
"This allowed us to remotely cut the elevated areas that we needed to, without having to perform the job at height, whilst ensuring the precision cutting required for the job was achieved.

"This was one of a number of innovate approaches that the team took to completing this challenging job and will potentially provide a template for how to perform these tasks in the future." 

The project took approximately two-months from start to completion. 

Ventia has been working with Yarra Valley Water since 2015 and provides a range of services including civil maintenance and mechanical and electrical maintenance.