Att Redwood Water Tanks Trip Rpt and Prelim Treat Recs 2018

Redwood Water Tanks

National Park Service
U.S. Department of the Interior

Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park

Vanishing Treasures Program

Trip Report and
Preliminary Treatment Recommendations

January, 2018

National Park Service
Vanishing Treasures Program
Trip Report and Preliminary Treatment Recommendations
Redwood Water Tanks
Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park

Prepared by:
Randall Skeirik, R.A., Vanishing Treasures Historical Architect, National Park Service Vanishing Treasures Program Directed by:
Lauren Meyers, Vanishing Treasures Program Manager
Intermountain Region
National Park Service
January 2018

Cover: One of the five remaining redwood tanks with the overhead pipe from the rain shed in the foreground. Above: Close-up of one of the lugs that connect lengths of the steel retaining bands. Note the corrosion present in the lower band and on the threads of the upper.

T8

T10

T7

T9

T11

Figure 1a: Partial site plan of the tank farm and rain sheds showing the 14 historic redwood tanks arrayed in two rows at the top center. The five remaining tanks (T7 - T11) are shown in blue, while the tanks that were demolished to make way for larger metal tanks are shown in pink. Drawing from eTIC

T8

T10

T7

T9

T11

Figure 1b: Aerial view of the tank farm and rain sheds corresponding to the area included in the site plan in Figure 1a.

Background and Purpose
This trip report is the result of a site visit made on
March 10, 2017, in response to a technical assistance request from Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park. The site visit, by Vanishing Treasures Historical Architect Randy Skeirik, was to provide guidance on the preservation of wood water tanks
that had been used as a component of the Park’s
mid-20th century fresh water system, but have
since been abandoned.
The Redwood Water Tanks
Acquired at various times after the conclusion
of WWII, fourteen 80,000- to 100,000-gallon
redwood tanks (Figure 1a) were installed in the
headquarters area of Hawai’i Volcanoes National
Park to store rainwater collected by an adjacent
rain shed.
Eight 100,000-gallon war surplus tank kits were
purchased on Oahu in February, 1947 and, according to the 1949 Superintendant’s Report, three 80,000-gallon and one 100,000-gallon tanks
were donated to the park by the Volcano House
and moved from the Volcano House tank hill.
Specific entries from the 1949 Superintendent’s
Report include:
pg. 93 - Memo to Director:...(4) other large
tanks were partially dismantled preparatory to