When an Outer Banks beach town needed to replace its aging elevated water tank and increase its capacity for fire protection, they called upon the same firm who had been serving them for decades. American Engineering led planning, engineering design, and construction administration of the replacement of one of the Town’s aging elevated water storage tanks with a new 400,000-gallon pedosphere elevated storage tank.  The new tank provided double the storage capacity of the old tank.

There were design and construction challenges on the water portion of the property as there was limited area to install the new tank while keeping the existing tank in service during construction.  The new tank had to be installed within an NCDOT drainage easement between the back of the fire station and Meekins Athletic Field, which contained an existing 42” arch CMP drainage pipe.  This drainage pipe conveys a large amount of stormwater from neighborhoods and commercial areas north and west of the site.  To keep the existing drainage system functioning during construction and to satisfy NCDOT, a 60” pipe system was installed in front and south of the fire station prior to construction of the new tank.  Once the new tank was completed, the existing tank was demolished.  This part of the plan left the Town with enough space to construct a monopole communication tower on the tank site, eliminating the need to place critical communications equipment on the new tank.

Water infrastructure is important to the Kill Devil Hills community, but so is “human infrastructure.” To combine uses and maximize the municipal land at the tank site area, the Town expanded and enhanced Meekins Field Park, to include a new playground, water park, soccer fields, pickleball courts, and enhanced restrooms and pedestrian connections. Previously underutilized municipal land was revitalized and became a community destination.