How
Did The Peachoid Come About?
It
began late one night when the staff of the Gaffney Board of Public Works was working way
too late. A water study had pointed out that the town needed a new elevated water storage
tank and the staff was wondering over ways to get Uncle Sam to pay for it.
The "Peachiod King" Mr. Dick Crater, who at the time was Board Manager,
said the immortal words that inspired a town, "Let's build it in the shape of a Peach
!" Slowly the idea grew and captured the imagination of the Board members and
denizens of the town. Soon, the project started coming together. Federal funds were
acquired from the Appalachian Regional Commission and the South Carolina Appalachian
Council of Governments.
Who Built The Peachoid ?
Bids for construction were floated and the
winner was the Chicago
Bridge & Iron Company.
How long Did it Take To Build ?
It took five
months to design and mold the steel for the project. A foundation containing 10 million
pounds of concrete had to be poured. One and one half miles of welds had to be made,
requiring that welding rods had to be delivered to the site by the ton. A stem 12 feet
long and 18 inches in diameter was added to the top. A huge leaf, 60 feet long, 16 feet
wide, and weighing 7 tons was applied to one side. A huge cleft along the entire height of
the "peach" was created through false work steel paneling applied to the sphere
of the tank. A nipple was added to the bottom of the tank to complete the construction of
Gaffney's new Water Tower.
Who Put The Finishing Touches
on The Peachoid?
CB&I's crews painted the basic
tank stem brown and the ball yellow, and the leaf green then Peter
Freudenburg, an artist specializing in super-graphics, was hired to paint the tank in
colors matching the types of peaches grown in the area. It took fifty gallons of paint,
combined to make more than 20 colors, used in the final project. At last Peachoid was
complete.
Dennis
Hardiman
I know the
water tower very well having been the one who built it in 1980-81. I was foreman of
the crew of Chicago Bridge & Iron Company at the time. Chicago Bridge & Iron also
made an agreement with the Gaffney Board of Public Works not to build another like it for
15 years. In 1992 the City of Clanton, Alabama asked CB&I to build
one for them. We appeared before the board and got approval to be released from our
promise to the Gaffney Board of Public Works being just a few years away from the 15
originally promised.
A 1/2 million gallon "Peachoid" now stands on I-65
near Clanton, Alabama a large peach growing county south of Birmingham, Ala.
We have been asked by a museum in Charlotte to loan them the model of
the "Peachoid" which now belongs to me. It will probably be on display in
Charlotte soon.
I still work for CB&I and have been for over 33years and will
retire with them. I am currently Human Resources Manager in the Atlanta Office. |
